


Fame Isn't Everything: First Year

by TeaGlass



Series: Fame Isn't Everything [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Good Slytherins, Mentor Severus Snape, POV Harry Potter, POV Original Character, Slytherin Harry Potter, Slytherins Being Slytherins, that's terrible i'm sorry, the golden trio is now a silver and golden quartet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27672031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaGlass/pseuds/TeaGlass
Summary: If one doesn’t look too closely, they'll say that Dante and Harry have nothing in common but their fame. This is, however, not true. For starters, both are sorted into Slytherin, and both want nothing more than to escape from their current home life.This is a retelling of the original series, but this time there are some new faces, some old faces, and one hell of a lot of Slytherins.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter, Harry Potter & Original Male Character(s), Hermione Granger & Harry Potter
Series: Fame Isn't Everything [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023453
Comments: 16
Kudos: 27





	1. Dante Escapes to Hogwarts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first Harry Potter fanfic, so I’m really excited. I hope you’ll like it. Throughout the entire story the POV will switch between Harry and Dante to give you an account of the experiences of the first year through two sets of eyes. 
> 
> Please enjoy :)

Impatience wasn’t something Dante struggled with often, but right now he was being consumed by it. His Hogwarts letter had finally come and he couldn’t wait to start. He longed for an escape from the loneliness that he felt in his own home. There were only two weeks left before term started, but Dante couldn’t take it anymore.

“Please, Father. I promise I’ll only go to the necessary shops, no diversions.” Dante begged.

“The elves have already received a list of all the required books and supplies, they will take care of it.” His father replied without looking up from the papers in front of him.

Dante knew it was futile to argue with his father, but he was desperate. “I still need to be fitted for my school robes, I can take Talpy and we’ll be back immediately after.”

“The elves have your measurements.” His father replied, a frown beginning to etch into his forehead.

This gave Dante pause. Angering his father was never smart, especially since he could stop him from going to Hogwarts altogether. It had taken a long time for him to even consider Hogwarts as an option and Dante wasn’t about to throw away his progress. He had been homeschooled since he was old enough to hold a wand and his father was all too happy to let him continue. The reason for his father’s reluctance was mainly Dumbledore, he hated the man. Dante was pretty sure his father was intimidated by the Headmaster and didn’t want him influencing his son. In the end, all it had taken some useless tutors, a sprinkle of begging, and a small reminder that Dante would only be home in summer to finally change his mind.

“I still need my own wand.” Dante said.

It was somewhat true. Since children technically weren’t allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts, Dante had always used one of the many wands of his father’s collection. He wasn’t sure who had started the collection, but it had been in the family for centuries. He didn’t want to use a second-hand wand, however, he wanted one that was completely his own.

His father stilled, seemingly considering Dante’s words. “Bring Talpy and do come back immediately, no dawdling.” He said after a pause.

“Yes, sir.”

Inside Dante cheered, but was careful not to show too much of his excitement. He quickly retreated and was almost out the door when his father spoke again.

“I don’t want to see any reports of your little trip in the Prophet, do you understand?”

His father turned his attention to Dante for the first time, since he walked into his father’s study to look at him sharply.

“No, sir.” 

His father nodded and waved him off, consumed by his work once again.

Dante didn’t think it was likely there would be reporters lurking around Diagon Alley when it was sure to be packed with students. Still, he’d keep his head down just to be safe. 

***

The bustle of Diagon Alley was like music to Dante’s ears. Being from a prominent family, his father was afraid he would make a scene and blemish the great Emhrys name, so he wasn’t allowed to go out much unless it was a public appearance his father had planned carefully. Sometimes, however, there were days like this one when he was lucky enough to get to leave the house on his own. These were the moments he savoured.

Dante looked around trying to get his bearings, the throng of people making it hard to see the shop signs. He had left Talpy at the apparition point, insisting that he could do this part on his own. The elf had seemed hesitant to let him go, but hadn’t voiced his concerns. He caught a glimpse of Ollivanders and pushed through the crowd as best he could. When he finally reached the door another boy stepped out and collided with Dante.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.” The boy said as he pushed his glasses back on his nose.

“Don’t worry about it.” Dante replied, stepping around the boy to push through the door.

The boy looked like he wanted to say something else, but thought better of it and gave Dante a small smile instead. Usually, he would’ve taken pity on the kid, but his father had been clear about attracting attention, so he wasn’t taking any risks.

The shop was very cluttered, with wands everywhere and a shattered vase scattered across the floor. Ollivander must have picked a wrong wand or two for the boy before him. He remembered when he and Talpy had gone to pick a practice wand for his lessons from his father’s collection and he had picked a particular temperamental one from the shelf. He had waved it around resulting in the shattering of three vases in the hall. His father had been furious, but Talpy had taken the blame for him, resulting in Dante carrying around a mountain of guilt for weeks. He wondered how many times Ollivander had to replace the vases in his shop.

“Blackthorn, dragon heartstring, eleven inches.” Ollivander stated, startling Dante.

“Excuse me?”

“Your father’s wand, is it not?”

Ollivander looked at him with a curious gaze while it took Dante a few seconds to catch up.

“Yes, sir, I believe it is.”

Ollivander turned away and walked to the back of the shop where even more wands were stacked high on shelves. The shop was very dimly lit, making Dante wonder how Ollivander knew which wand was which. He didn’t have time to ask about it, because the man in question had already returned with a wand for him to try. It was made of reddish-brown wood and quite short, but once he held it in his hand it felt off. He waved it once at Ollivander’s prompting, but it resulted in the papers flying off Ollivander’s desk.

“I see, I see.” The wandmaker mumbled while he went over to the shelves next to Dante and grabbed another wand out of the box. This one was made of a very handsome dark wood and Ollivander informed him it had a dragon heartstring core.

“Try not to think too much this time.”

Dante nodded, taking a deep breath to clear his mind. The moment he took the wand from the wandmaker, a warm feeling crept up his arm. This should do well. He gave it a wave and green sparks emerged from the end. He grinned at the Ollivander, who nodded his approval.

***

The last few days before term seemed to drag by, but then it was finally time to head to King’s Cross. He had staved off his boredom by thumbing through his textbooks and trying out a few spells from them. Most of the things he came across didn’t seem too difficult, so he wasn’t worried about disappointing his father with his grades. He’d already done a lot of the most basic magic, but there were a few interesting new things that he was looking forward to. Especially Potions, since his tutors had been abysmal and his father hadn’t thought it as important as his other classes.

“Athena, are you coming?” Dante asked the small burrowing owl sitting on his headboard. She chirped, before flying to her cage. He’d gotten Athena when he was eight years old and she’d been his first friend. Myrddin Manor had become a bit more bearable with the tiny owl as company.

“Don’t go forgetting about me when we get to Hogwarts okay, I know there’ll be lots of cool owls, but just remember who gives the best pats.” Dante chuckled as he scratched her under her chin. The owl hooted in understanding and settled down on her perch.

Carefully, he picked up her cage while also dragging his very heavy trunk behind him. He struggled down to the Entrance Hall where he was supposed to wait for his father to take him to King’s Cross. The telltale crack of a house-elf apparating made his good mood falter a little.

“Master is being too busy right now, so Talpy will take young master Dante to the station.” Talpy squeaked while shrinking Dante’s trunk.

Dante choked down his disappointment, scolding himself for even being surprised. So instead, he set his shoulders and smiled down at his house-elf.

“I would appreciate that Talpy, thank you.”

The house-elf nodded and held up his bony arm for Dante to grab. With a crack, they appeared on Platform 9 3/4, where they hurriedly stepped away from the apparition point, lest they’d be flattened by others apparating in. 

“Can Talpy do anything else for sir?”

“No, thank you Talpy,” Dante said. He hesitated before continuing in one breath, “I’ll miss you and the other elves.” He cringed at the crack in his voice.

A sad look passed over Talpy’s small features. “Talpy will be missing the young master too.”

He cracked out of existence before Dante could say anything else, so he grabbed his trunk and turned his focus on the chaos around him. There was a great gleaming red train puffing smoke all the along platform, while parents and students bustled along to get to it. When he heard the whistle blow to indicate its imminent departure, he picked up his pace to get on.

After dropping off his trunk he carried Athena past full compartment after full compartment, often having to stop to let running students through. He got a few stares, but nothing he wasn’t used to, so he was feeling optimistic. He finally reached a compartment where only three other students were sitting, they also looked to be first years, so he took a deep breath, pasted on his most charming smile, and opened the door.

“Hi, do you mind if I join you? Everywhere else is full.”

There were no objections, so he dragged Athena inside and put her on the seat next to him. He sat down next to a bushy-haired girl who was in the middle of lecturing the two other occupants on Hogwarts: A History. To his credit, the bespectacled, raven-haired boy seemed to be paying attention, while the other chubbier boy was looking nervously at the two owls now occupying the compartment. He grabbed an ugly looking toad from the seat next to him and put him in a wicker basket.

“Oh, where are my manners, I’m Hermione Granger.” The wild-haired girl said while extending her hand to Dante.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Hermione, I’m Dante.” He replied. He purposefully left out his last name, not in the mood for answering a million questions.

After shaking her hand he turned to the other two boys who introduced themselves as Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter. His interest was piqued by the latter, but he stopped himself from asking anything. It was only fair.

“Didn’t I see you outside of Ollivanders?” Harry asked seemingly, relieved by his lack of curiosity.

Recognition sparked in Dante’s head when he remembered the boy he ran into. “You left quite the mess as I remember.” He teased the other boy good-naturedly.

Hermione turned an interested look on Harry, who looked away, embarrassed. “Ollivander gave me a few wands who weren’t quite uhm.. suitable.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve made way bigger messes with my father’s wands, so-”

He was interrupted by the door to their compartment slamming open to let in a blonde boy who immediately shut the blinds. There was only one person Dante knew with hair like that.

“Draco, what in Merlin’s name are you doing?” Dante demanded.

“Sorry, I was just trying to get rid of those giant oafs.” Draco rolled his eyes, but smoothed his face into a polite mask when he saw that Dante wasn’t alone. “Well, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends, Emhrys?” He demanded imperiously.

Dante winced at the gasp his name drew from Hermione and turned around cautiously. Harry was still looking at Draco with wary eyes, but Neville had turned his attention to Dante as well.

“Draco, these are Hermione, Neville, and Harry.” Dante gestured between them, hoping the introduction would keep Hermione’s questions at bay, but he wasn’t that lucky.

“A pleasure,” Hermione smiled at Draco thinly, but immediately turned her attention back to Dante. “Why didn’t you tell us your name was Dante Emhrys?! He’s a descendant from Merlin.” She told a confused looking Harry, before turning back to pin Dante with her gaze. “Is it true your family is in possession of Merlin’s wand?”

Dante gave a tired shrug, settling in for a long train ride of questions. “Yeah, we do, we’ve got loads of wands, it’s nothing special.” He glared at Draco, who huffed and went to sit next to Harry.

Before Hermione could ask another question, however, Harry interrupted her. “Who were you running from Draco?” Dante threw Harry a grateful look at this change of topic and the other boy smiled knowingly.

“Just Crabbe and Goyle, their fathers are acquainted with mine, so I’ve known them since I was a baby, but I thought it was time for some new friends. Some who are more on my level.” Draco replied haughtily.

Dante rolled his eyes at the boy’s tone, but he understood where Draco was coming from. He’d met the boys at one of his father’s parties, and it had been quite clear that stimulating conversation was not one of their strong suits as they had only grunted one-word replies through mouthfuls of food. They’d been nice enough, though.

“Do you know which house you’ll be in yet?” Dante hoped this line of questioning would keep Hermione’s mind from his family history.

“Oh, I’ll be in Slytherin, no doubt, just like the rest of my family.” Draco answered without missing a beat.

“Houses?” Harry asked at the same time.

“I read about them in Hogwarts: A History,” Hermione explained, “apparently there are four houses, all of them have students based on certain traits. Slytherins are cunning and resourceful; Ravenclaws are intelligent and creative; Gryffindors are brave and determined; and Hufflepuffs are hard-working and loyal.”

Dante tuned out the conversation, glad that it hadn’t turned back to him or his family. The conversation was dominated by Hermione and Harry asking Draco questions about Hogwarts, who was loving the attention. Dante chimed in a few times when necessary, but mostly relaxed with Athena on his lap.

***

Once the students arrived at Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall informed them of the sorting ceremony and the houses. Everyone around Dante was chattering excitedly about the boat ride and ceremony, but he didn’t join in. An icy ball of nerves laid in the pit of his stomach. In the week leading up to the start of the school year, his father had reminded him that he had a certain reputation to uphold and that endangering their family name would be met with serious consequences. Part of what his father deemed appropriate was to get sorted into Slytherin like all of his family before him, anything other house was going to be perceived as a failure by his father.

Everyone quieted as McGonagall returned. “We’re ready for you now, follow me.”

Dante’s legs felt like lead as the group moved to the front of the Great Hall. He didn’t even notice the beautifully enchanted ceiling or the hat’s song. Someone broke through his anxious reverie as they tapped him on the shoulder. A boy with caramel-coloured skin and meticulously styled jet black hair moved past him. The boy winked at Dante before strolling over to the sorting hat with an amount of confidence he envied. It only took him a few seconds to be sorted into Ravenclaw. Dante’s eyes followed the boy all the way to the Ravenclaw table where he slid on the bench graciously.

“Dante Emhrys.” McGonagall called out next.

Dante startled at the sound of his name, but forced his body to walk up to the stool. He ignored the gawking students and let the sorting hat fall over his eyes.

“Well, this is familiar, I was wondering when I would see one of you again.” The sorting hat began. “A good mind, talent aplenty, and a need to prove yourself. This is more difficult than I expected…”

“Please say Slytherin, please say Slytherin.” Dante whispered to the hat.

“Are you sure? You would do great in Ravenclaw, develop that mind. No? Well, in that case, I’m sure you’ll do great as a snake. I’ll place you in… SLYTHERIN!”

“Thank Merlin.” He sighed deeply and the sorting hat chuckled at his comment, but before he could question what was so amusing, the hat was pulled off his head and he made his way over to the Slytherin table.

Now that he had made it, he could finally relax, so he settled in to watch the rest of the ceremony. Hermione was placed into Gryffindor along with Neville, Draco only sat on the stool for a second before he was placed into Slytherin and slid into the seat next to Dante. When Harry’s name was called, a sudden interest swept through the hall as students and teachers alike focussed on the boy who lived. Dante felt a little guilty to admit that he was quite curious himself. After a few minutes, the hat shocked them all when it announced that Harry was to be in Slytherin. The stunned silence was broken by the Slytherin table as they cheered for their newest addition.

“I knew you’d get in.” Draco told Harry as he sat down beside him.

“I’m pretty sure I just shocked an entire school with being a Slytherin.” Harry replied, ducking behind the hulking figures of Crabbe and Goyle in front of him to escape the gawking students.

After Harry, only one other boy joined Slytherin, a tall black boy called Blaise Zabini. Aside from them, there was also Theodore Nott, a quiet boy with short sandy coloured hair; Crabbe and Goyle who merely grunted their introductions between bites of the feast that had just appeared; Daphne Greengrass who kept checking her blonde curls in the back of her spoon; Millicent Bulstrode who dwarfed nearly all the first years; Tracey Davis, a short, shy looking girl with round glasses like Harry; and Pansy Parkinson who seemed to know everything about everyone. Dante knew most of them, having met them at some event or another, but there were a few faces he didn’t recognise. Everyone seemed friendly enough, so he wasn’t going to complain, although it would be quite crowded in the dorms with all the boys.

Dante let his eyes wander around the room and caught sight of the Ravenclaw from earlier. He gestured wildly as he told a story to his fellow students. The boy must have felt Dante’s eyes on him, because he looked up and locked eyes with him. Dante felt his face heat up at being caught staring which was only made worse when the other boy grinned and winked at him before going back to his conversation. Dante quickly looked away and caught sight of Hermione and Neville who waved at him.

“Making friends with the enemy, Emhrys?” Blaise drawled.

“Yes, I’m a Gryffindor spy ready to spill all of your darkest secrets.” Dante rolled his eyes.

“We have enemies?” Harry asked.

“Oh, absolutely, the Gryffindors are our mortal enemies.” Pansy said, her eyes widening dramatically.

“Don’t be dramatic, Pans, those Gryffindors are alright.” Draco commented.

Dante looked on, amused, as Pansy and Draco argued about house stereotypes and he was about to comment when he heard Harry gasp and slap his hand across his forehead.

“You alright there, Harry?” He asked.

“Yeah, my scar just hurt.” Harry replied absentmindedly. “Do you know who the professor in the black robes is?”

“That’s Professor Snape, our head of house and Potions professor, why?”

“Nothing, just the way he looked at me, gave me the feeling he doesn’t like me.”

“I’m sure that’s just Snape’s sunny disposition, nothing to worry about.” Dante tried to reassure him, but Harry didn’t look convinced. He tried to distract the other boy with questions about his expectations for the classes. They discussed them for a while until it was time to head to the dorms.

They were led to the dungeon by their prefects, Gemma Farley and Edward Whittle. Whittle had seemed annoyed the whole way there and Dante wondered if he even wanted to be a prefect. Gemma on the other hand seemed like she was having a great time, interacting with the students and giving them advice on which teachers they had to look out for and what classes they could get away with the most. Apparently, in History of Magic someone had lit their desk on fire to see if the professor noticed. He didn’t.

“The password is serpentes,” Whittle said once they reached the common room, “it changes fortnightly, so check the noticeboard to stay up to date with them. The password is not to be shared with students of other houses and you are not allowed to invite anyone over who isn’t Slytherin” He looked at all of them sharply for a second, before continuing. “Girls follow Gemma, boys follow me.”

The door opened to let them into a spacious common room with dark wood flooring. On the far side of the room, there were floor to ceiling windows that looked right into the Black Lake which let in a greenish glow, in front of the windows were comfortable looking leather chairs with low coffee tables. On the other side were desks and at the wall closest to them was a massive fireplace surrounded by leather couches. The walls were adorned with dark green and silver tapestries with a huge one with a silver snake coiling across it above the fireplace.

Whittle led them across the room to some stairs that led to the dormitories. He stopped in front of a door marked ‘First Years’ and gestured for them to enter. The room held seven four-poster beds with green and silver bedding and curtains. Each bed had a dark wooden side table that matched the bed. There was also a fireplace on the opposite side of the room which was crackling merrily.

“All of your trunks have been delivered here and your owls have been brought to the owlery. You don’t have a bedtime, but you are expected to show up to breakfast, which is between six thirty and eight thirty. There is also a curfew, for firsties it’s from nine till six, so make sure you’re back here during that window. If you have any other questions you can come to me or Gemma or ask our head of house Professor Snape, but only if it’s very important.” Whittle nodded curtly and turned on his heel out of the room.

The boys immediately scrambled to claim a bed. Dante got the one on the far right side of the room next to the window; Harry and Draco joined him on the right side of the room with Harry next to him; opposite Dante was Blaise with Theo right next to him; Vince and Greg were the last to be spurred into action and were left fighting over who had to sleep next to the door, a fight which Greg won.

Dante changed into his pajamas quickly and slid between the covers. He had a long day ahead of him tomorrow and he couldn’t wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was the first chapter, thank you so much for reading it. Up next, Harry’s chapter that will take up where we left off.


	2. Harry Flies for the First Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope you liked the last chapter, this one is from Harry's pov and like I said I'll be switching between him and Dante every chapter.
> 
> Please enjoy :)

Yesterday had been the most eventful and exciting day Harry had ever had. Not that it was hard to beat any of his days with the Dursleys, but he didn’t like to dwell on that fact. At first, he’d been worried the other students wouldn’t like him and he’d end up alone again, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. He had hit it off immediately with Hermione and Neville, whom he had joined in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. After that Dante and Draco had joined them, resulting in a very pleasant trip to Scotland. His new friends had all been sorted before him, so when it was his turn, Harry had begged the sorting hat to put him in either Gryffindor or Slytherin. The hat had taken his suggestions into consideration, but chose Slytherin over Gryffindor in the end. Apparently, this was not what people had expected, because when McGonagall pulled the hat from his head, he was faced with a sea of widened eyes and the whispers behind his back became even louder.

It wasn’t any different when Harry walked into the Great Hall for breakfast with Dante and Draco. He quickly walked over to the Slytherin table and sat at the far side. Dante pulled Draco down opposite of Harry, forming a wall to block out prying eyes. Harry gave them both a grateful smile.

“It’ll get easier to deal with.” Dante said, but Harry wasn’t so sure.

“You should listen to him Potter, Emhrys has been in the spotlight since he was born.” Draco chimed in.

Harry shuddered at the idea. “What did you do to deserve that?”

“Nothing as heroic as stopping the Dark Lord that’s for sure,” Dante chuckled, “no, I was just unfortunate enough to be born into the wrong family. The wizarding world is obsessed with family names and who you’re descendant from, so being related to ‘the greatest wizard to have lived’ means I’m pretty much screwed. It also doesn’t help that my father is a pretty public figure with his work for the ministry, so yeah…” Dante trailed off, seeming to despise every word he’d just said.

“That sounds like a nightmare.” Harry replied honestly.

“Like I said, you learn to deal with it.” Dante shrugged.

They were interrupted by Professor Snape handing out their class schedules. They had double History of Magic this morning and Harry was not looking forward to it. He had thumbed through his books before term started and had found it the least interesting book by far. After lunch, they had Defense Against the Dark Arts which he had found interesting. Other than Defense, he was looking forward to Potions, even though it seemed that Professor Snape didn’t like him, but he was most excited for Flying. Unfortunately, both classes were on Friday, so he’d have to wait the entire week for them.

After they finished their breakfast, the boys returned to their dorm to grab the necessary books, before heading up to History of Magic. They shared the class with the Hufflepuffs who were already inside when they arrived. The class was taught by a ghost which was the only fascinating thing about the professor. The man’s droning voice almost lulled Harry back to sleep and he wasn’t the only one. All around him students gradually settled in for naps or started whispered conversations after it became clear that their professor didn’t seem to notice or care. Harry spent the rest of the class learning about magical origami from Dante.

The rest of the week went by in a similar fashion, although the other teachers weren’t as oblivious or boring as Binns. The other classes had been very interesting, although he didn’t think Herbology was for him. It reminded him too much of hot summer’s days spent toiling over Aunt Petunia’s roses. The most exciting part of the week still had to come, however, so Harry was very happy when Friday rolled around.

“What’s got you all excited then?” Pansy asked as Harry practically skipped down to breakfast alongside his friends.

“You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed that flying is all Potter has been able to talk about, right?” Draco asked with a dramatic eye roll.

Harry shoved the boy playfully. “I haven’t been talking about it that much, you git.”

Both Draco and Dante looked at him in disbelief, so Harry stuck out his tongue at the two and sat down next to Blaise for good measure. They were halfway through breakfast when the owls flew in for their daily mail delivery and to his surprise, Hedwig swooped down with the rest of the owls. He took the message from Hedwig’s paw, giving the owl some bacon as a thank you. It was written in a messy scrawl that asked if Harry was up for meeting Hagrid this afternoon for tea. He wrote a quick reply, saying that he would meet Hagrid after class.

The Slytherins made their way down to the dungeons together with the Gryffindors. The potions’ classroom was a bit different from the others Harry had seen that week. Aside from the cauldrons on every desk, it was much darker with the telltale green glow from the Black Lake through the windows. Harry paired off with Draco to one of the cauldrons. They both startled when Professor Snape burst in and swept to the front of the class.

“There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class.” He began as he looked out at the students. “As such, I don’t expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making. However, for those select few who possess the predisposition,” at this he looked over to the Slytherins gathered on the left side of the classroom. “I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death.”

Harry was listening with rapt attention, he made potion-making sound so… beautiful. Professor Snape’s eyes shot down to meet his and Harry thought he saw his face darken slightly, but the expression was gone in a second.

“Mister Potter, our new celebrity.” Harry swallowed at his tone, but didn’t break eye contact. “Tell me what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”

Harry frowned in concentration as he tried to remember what he had read about asphodels. Next to him, Hermione strained to get her hand up as high as she could. Suddenly, he remembered the story about the Ancient Greek underworld where they supposedly grew.

“The Draught of Death, sir?”

After a short pause, Professor Snape continued. “It is a sleeping potion called the Draught of Living Death. Let’s try that again, where, mister Potter, would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?”

This one Harry did remember. “In a goat’s stomach, sir.”

“Correct, it is used to combat most, but not all, poisons. And what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?”

“Aren’t they the same plant, sir?” Harry asked, confused.

“Quite, it is also known as aconite.” Snape gazed around the classroom. “Why don’t I see anyone writing this down? Five points to Slytherin for coming prepared.” 

Snape glided back to the front of the classroom, flipping the board to show the instructions for a cure for boils. Just as Harry thought, he liked Potions a lot, the amount of precision and skill that went into it was intriguing and it was a lot more interesting than cooking for the Dursleys. The class only had two downsides, the redheaded Gryffindor who called him a suck-up, and professor Snape who still gave Harry the impression that he disliked him. He told Draco and Dante as much.

“Why are you so insistent about this, he gave you points and didn’t criticize your potion, which is practically a miracle.” Draco said with an eye-roll.

“What Draco is trying to, not so delicately, say is that Snape didn’t appear to treat you any different than the rest of us.” Dante shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess.” Harry conceded, but remained doubtful.

He brightened considerably at the reminder that they had their flying lesson this afternoon. Lunch was spent talking about the newest broom that was released, namely the Nimbus 2000. Apparently, it was the fastest one yet and Harry felt a strong desire to splurge with his newfound fortune. Since they shared their class with the Gryffindors again, Harry spent the walk across the grounds catching up with Hermione and Neville. Unsurprisingly, Hermione found every class fascinating, while Neville was unsure about all of them except Herbology. Harry was still telling them about the magical origami Dante taught him when they arrived at a large circle of brooms with Madam Hooch in the middle of it.

“Please go stand by a broom and wait for my instructions.” Madam Hooch told the students.

When everyone had found a broom she continued. “We’ll start today’s class with mastering the up command and if there is time we will start with hovering.”

Harry managed to catch the broom after his second try and most of the class followed a few tries after him. Madam Hooch told them to try to hover if they managed to catch the broom 5 times in a row. After his third successful attempt in a row, Harry noticed that beside him Dante and Neville were still struggling to get the broom up once to the increasing amusement of the redheaded Gryffindor and his friends.

“You have to say it with conviction.” Harry offered the other boys.

Neville nodded at Harry and frowned in concentration. “Up!” 

The broom made a shaky path towards his hand where Neville eventually caught it. A smile broke free over his face and he patted Harry on the back in thanks. Harry and Neville looked at Dante expectantly who looked beyond frustrated.

“UP!” The other boy shouted. The force behind his command seemed too much as the broom jerked up and hit him directly in the face. He grabbed his face as blood started to drip from his nose.

The redhead and his friends burst out laughing which made anger well up inside of Harry as he checked on Dante. He hated bullies and the redhead was quickly becoming one in his mind. The laughter died when Madam Hooch threatened to take points away.

“Mr Potter if you would be so kind to take Mr Emhrys to the hospital wing that would be appreciated.” Madam Hooch asked. Harry nodded and guided a dazed Dante back to the castle.

Once inside Dante stopped walking, pulling out his wand, and pointed it at his nose. “Episkey.” He mumbled to which his nose popped back into place with a sickening crack.

“How is it that you can use healing spells, and turn beetles into buttons in Transfiguration without trouble, but you aren’t able to get a broom off the floor without injuring yourself?” Harry asked amusedly.

Dante wiped the blood off his face before answering. “I’m just not good with a broom okay, besides it’s a stupid way to get your broom. Why do that, when you can just bend down and pick it up yourself.” He grumbled making Harry laugh.

“If you don’t mind, I want to go back and try to hov-“ Before Harry could finish his sentence, he was cut off by the bell. “I guess not.”

“I’m sorry Harry, I should’ve just fixed my nose before.” Dante looked genuinely sorry, but Harry waved him off.

“Don’t worry about it, we still have next week.” Harry laughed again as Dante pulled a face. “I promised Hagrid that I would visit him after class if you wanted to come?” He thought his friend could use some cheering up.

“Sounds good, I could use a cuppa.” 

They were joined by Draco and Hermione, who were making their way back up to the castle with their classmates. Soon, the four friends came to a stop outside of Hagrid’s cabin and knocked on the door. The knock started a cacophony of sounds, a chair scraping, heavy footsteps, and, what sounded like a large dog, barking.

“Fang, sit,” Hagrid’s voice sounded through the door, “sit, Fang.”

When Hagrid opened the door, Harry could only see the giant black Boarhound that was wagging his tail behind the groundskeeper.

“D’you bring all yer friends, Harry?” Hagrid asked with a chuckle.

Harry felt his cheeks heat up at the question, he should’ve asked Hagrid if he could bring them “I’m sorry, I should have asked if I could bring them.”

“Nonsense, the more the merrier, come in, come in.” The four of them sat down while Hagrid went to get five mugs and pour the tea.

“So, how’s Hogwarts been treating yeh?” Hagrid asked the group.

“Oh, it’s been utterly fascinating,” Hermione began, “I feel like I’ve learned so much already.”

“Yeah, it’s been interesting, although I’m getting a bit tired of being stared at all the time.” Harry admitted.

“That’ll pass soon enough, although I’m sure it didn’t help matters when yeh got sorted into Slytherin.” Hagrid chuckled.

“Why is that?” Harry already didn’t care for all the house politics, he liked to meet people before making any judgments.

“I guess people jus’ expected yeh to be in Gryffindor like yer parents. Besides, it’s kinda strange the boy who lived would end up between-” Hagrid cut himself off with an awkward cough, pointedly not looking at either Draco or Dante.

“I’m nothing like my father.” Draco said indignantly while Dante crossed his arms with a huff.

“No, no, that’s not what I meant, I know that.” Hagrid spluttered.

Harry looked around desperately to break the tension that had built up. That’s when he noticed the Daily Prophet laying in front of him on the table. It was an article about a break-in at Gringotts, the picture beneath held a familiar vault.

“Hagrid, isn’t that the vault we visited on my birthday?” 

They had stopped by this vault first and Hagrid had refused to tell him what he had taken from it. The break-in had happened just after they had been there, apparently, maybe even when they were still inside the bank.

“Who wants some rock cakes?” Hagrid asked quickly, avoiding Harry’s eyes this time.

“Could it have happened while we were still there?” Harry continued undeterred.

“I also have some fudge, if yer interested.”

“Hagrid, what did they want to steal?”

“I can’t tell yeh that Harry, it’s official Hogwarts business. Now would yeh like somethin’ to eat?”

Harry decided not to push the matter and accepted a rock cake. He would have to find out another way to get his answers.

***

The next morning, Harry was having breakfast with the Slytherin girls when Dante and Draco plopped down beside him. The boys were not morning people, so they took advantage of every hour they could to sleep in.

“We know what we’re gonna do today.” Draco said. Harry raised his eyebrow at the two, prompting them to explain.

“I felt bad for making you miss flying class, so we’re taking you out flying today,” Dante grinned, “of course I’ll be staying far away from the brooms.”

“How are you going to manage that, first years aren’t allowed brooms.” Pansy butted in.

“That’s why we’ll be liberating a broom or two from the quidditch cupboard.” Draco explained, waving a hand dismissively.

“I don’t know guys, won’t we get in trouble?” Harry didn’t want to get detention in his first week at Hogwarts, but he also didn’t want his friends to think of him as a wimp.

“If we don’t get caught, we won’t,” Draco smirked, “we’ll go right before supper, so no one’ll notice we’re gone.”

Harry had to admit that it was a very tempting offer. “Okay, I’m in.”

That afternoon the boys walked to the quidditch pitch where they were faced with a very locked broom cupboard. Harry wasn’t sure how they could’ve overlooked this issue and was already turning back towards the castle.

“Where are you going, Potter?” Draco asked.

“The door is locked and I don’t have a key, do you?” Harry’s response caused both boys to look at him with exasperation clear on their faces.

“You still need to learn how to think like a wizard, Harry,” Dante said as he turned to the lock and pulled out his wand, “alohomora.” 

The lock clicked and the door swung open, revealing dozens of brooms. Draco grabbed two and handed one to Harry.

“That’s going to be so useful.” Harry marveled, but quickly forgot his awe over magic as Draco showed him how to take off.

“Just put it between your legs and kick off from the ground.” Draco lifted off the ground as he said this.

Harry did as he was told and slowly lifted a few feet of the ground where he hovered next to Draco. A giddy feeling spread through him, he was actually flying!

“Very good, Potter, now the rest is very easy, you lean your broom in the direction which you want it to go and pull on the handle to come to a stop. Like this.” Draco took off and showed him how to turn, dive, and brake.

It didn’t take long for Harry to figure out flying was indeed quite easy. He soared across the pitch, weaving through the air, making the broom go faster and faster. It gave him a sense of freedom that he’d never felt before. A laugh burst free from his chest as he dove and pulled up at the very last second.

“Merlin’s beard, Harry, are you sure you’ve never flown before?” Dante called out from the ground.

Harry flew another lap around the pitch before coming to a hover above Dante. “No, this is my first time.” Harry said breathlessly.

“I definitely need to see more.” Draco said as he flew up to them. He grabbed a rock off the ground and turned to Harry. “Catch this.”

Without further warning, Draco threw it as far as he could. Harry swore as he shot off after it, but caught it easily. This turned into a game as the other boys started throwing rocks left and right while Harry flew around catching them all. They were interrupted by a slow clap coming from the entrance of the pitch where professor Snape had just appeared. Harry quickly descended to get off his ‘liberated’ broom. Before he could say anything, however, Dante spoke up.

“I’m sorry professor, this is my fault, I felt bad for making Harry miss his first flying class, so you should punish me.” Snape raised his finger to silence him.

“As much as it pains me to say this, Mr Potter, that was an impressive feat of flying.”

“Sir?”

“Impressive enough to warrant a spot on the quidditch team, I might say, how do you feel about the seeker position?”

“Wha-“ Harry was at a loss for words.

“He feels great about it.” Draco took over for Harry.

“Thank you, Mr Malfoy, but I think Mr Potter can speak for himself.” Snape said as he turned his piercing stare back on Harry.

“I- I do feel good about it, sir, thank you.” Harry said.

“Very well, we can discuss the necessary details during detention.” Snape continued before Draco could protest. “You still broke school rules Mr Malfoy, so I will see you in my classroom tomorrow morning. Now come along and put those brooms back where they belong.”

The boys brought their brooms back to the cupboard and followed professor Snape back to the castle. Once inside, they parted ways, but not before Snape told them to hurry back to the common room, since it was almost curfew. They watched their head of house sweep off into the castle still in stunned silence.

“What the hell just happened?” Dante asked, breaking the silence.

“Harry just got the seeker position, that’s what happened.” Draco said as he clapped Harry on the back. “We’ll definitely win the Quidditch Cup this year! This calls for a celebration. I’ve still got a few sweets left from my stash.”

The clock in the hall chimed nine times, signaling the start of curfew. So, they hurried in the direction of the dungeons, only to come face to face with Mrs Norris who meowed loudly.

“Run!” Harry hissed.

The boys ran back towards Entrance Hall, followed by Filch’s heavy steps. After a sharp left, they sprinted up a few stairs. There was nowhere to run without risking Filch seeing them, so they needed to hide, quickly. He picked the first door he could reach, but it was locked and he could hear Filch’s wheezing getting very close. Without missing a beat, Harry pulled out his wand to point at the door blocking their escape.

“Alohomora.” He whispered and scrambled inside when the lock gave way.

Harry strained to hear whether Filch was still on their trail, but he couldn’t hear anything over the low rumbling sound in the room.

“Uuhm, guys…” Dante gulped.

Draco and Harry turned as one to see what made their friend sound so scared. Right in front of them was a giant three-headed dog snoring. Its eyes fluttered at the sound and opened to reveal big yellow orbs. The boys scrambled back to the door as the rumbling turned into a dangerous growl. They spilled out into the hall and closed the door just as one of the heads had opened its jaws to snap at the opening.

Harry ran as fast as he could all the way back to the dungeons, only stopping once they were all safely inside. His chest burned as he gulped for air.

“What was that thing?!” Harry questioned.

“No idea, but that should not be in a school full of children.” Draco panted.

“Didn’t you see what it was standing on?” Dante asked.

“No, of course not, the heads were my main focus!” Draco cried incredulously.

“It was standing on a trapdoor, it must’ve been guarding something, but the question is what.”

“Guarding something?” Suddenly, everything clicked in Harry’s head. “It must be guarding the package that Hagrid took from the vault, that ‘official Hogwarts business’. If someone risked trying to steal from Gringotts, they must be dangerous enough to go to such an extreme measure.” The other two nodded.

“Well, we won’t figure out what it is tonight, so let’s focus on celebrating Harry’s spot on the quidditch team instead.” Draco said.

Harry glowed at the reminder and followed Draco to their dorm to feast on the small stash of sweets Draco kept in his trunk. Nothing could spoil his good mood, not even a run-in with a giant dog.


	3. Dante Has a Close Call

Dante’s Sunday morning was spent scrubbing cauldrons for Professor Snape and looking through a broom catalogue for Harry. After a long time deliberating, he had chosen the Nimbus 2000 much to Draco’s delight. Dante still didn’t understand their desire to fly around on deathtraps, when there were way faster and safer ways to travel. Although, he had to admit that it was pretty cool that Harry got to join their house team. It would definitely make the quidditch season very interesting.

When Snape dismissed them it was nearing lunchtime, so they decided to head straight for the Great Hall, where they met their fellow Slytherins.

“Look at what the kneazle dragged in, our fearless seeker.” Blaise drawled.

“Honestly, Potter, how’d you swing that?” Millicent asked, not having heard the story like the boys had in the dorms last night

“By catching some rocks on liberated brooms.” Harry grinned as he sat down to grab a piece of toast.

“I still can’t believe Snape gave the position to you after breaking the rules, he’s the strictest professor at the school after maybe McGonagall.” Pansy said, sounding both impressed and jealous.

“I think our Head of House is far more interested in winning the Quidditch Cup than a few broken rules. He is a Slytherin after all.” Dante shrugged.

They were interrupted by Hermione and Neville who came up to their table. “Mind if we join you?” Hermione asked.

“Thinking about joining the dark side, little lions?” Pansy smirked at the newcomers.

“Pans, be nice.” Dante gave her a warning look, but all he got in return was an innocent smile.

“We just wanted to have lunch with our friends.” Hermione huffed.

“Are you still not getting along with the other Gryffindors?” Dante asked concerned.

He’d seen the way the Gryffindors treated Neville and Hermione. They hadn’t been openly hostile, but not exactly friendly either, except for that redheaded boy who glared at Neville and Hermione whenever they so much as spoke to one of the Slytherins.

“I don’t share a lot of the same interests as the other girls, I like to read and they… don’t.” Hermione said mildly.

“Also Ron doesn’t think we should be hanging out with Slytherins.” Neville added.

“Is that the redhead? I really don’t like that kid.” Dante had seen him laughing when the broom had broken his nose, he seemed like an arsehole.

“It is, he’s one of a thousand Weasleys in Gryffindor. The older ones are on the quidditch team.” Theo chuckled. “Speaking of quidditch, Harry, have you chosen a broom yet?”

“A broom?” Hermione raised her eyebrow at her friend.

Harry regaled them with his story for a third time, so Dante tuned him out and swept his eyes over the Gryffindor table. He saw Weasley glaring at their table, so he caught his gaze and glared back. Maybe he could talk to the boy and make it clear that Neville and Hermione weren’t to be messed with. It would probably only make things harder on them though, not to mention that Dante might get in trouble and he really didn’t want to get on Snape’s bad side. After the stolen brooms he needed a bit of a cooling-off period before breaking the rules again. Dante really didn’t want to experience what it was like to have the professor hate him.

His gaze wandered again and seemed to gravitate towards the Ravenclaw table. The mysterious boy from the sorting ceremony wasn’t there, however. They shared Herbology and Charms with the Ravenclaws, but Dante had never been able to catch him after class. He desperately wanted to know who the boy was. 

Then, as if the Ravenclaw had been listening to his thoughts, he swaggered into the Great Hall alone. This was a perfect opportunity to introduce himself.

“Excuse me.” Dante said to his classmates as he ran to catch the boy before he could join his friends.

He smoothly blocked the Ravenclaw’s path and smiled at him. “Hi, I don’t think we’ve been introduced, I’m Dante Emhrys.”

The boy smirked. “A pleasure, I’m Dorian Ajay. I was wondering when you’d actually talk to me instead of just staring at me, did your parents never teach you it was rude to stare?” Dorian said with a teasing glint in his grey eyes.

Dante felt his face heat up, making Dorian laugh. “You could’ve come to me too, you know.” Dante grumbled.

“Now where would be the fun in that?” Dorian smirked.

“Well, did your parents never teach you it was rude to call out someone for their social shortcomings?” Dante countered.

“I must have missed it while I was learning about proper grooming rituals, a class you unfortunately missed, I see.” Dorian said, indicating his messy hair.

Dante touched his black curls self-consciously. “What’s wrong with my hair?”

Dorian’s smirk dimmed a little. “It’s just a bit of a mess, is all, nothing that can’t be fixed by a simple hair potion.” He said, his words a bit stilted.

“Thank Merlin, my hair isn’t beyond saving, how can I ever repay you for your styling wisdom.” Dante joked to show he wasn’t actually hurt by his words.

“I’m but a humble servant to those without style, I only need your gratitude.” Dorian swept into a graceful bow, his awkwardness forgotten.

“Oi, Emhrys! We’re going to study by the lake, you coming?” Pansy shouted from across the hall.

“Maybe I should teach her about proper manners,” Dante chuckled, “would you like to come?”

“I’m afraid I’ve already made other study-related engagements, but maybe another time.” Dorian said, his smirk softening into an apologetic smile.

“Sounds good, till next time then.” Dante smiled at his new friend.

“I’ll bring the hair potions.” Dorian’s smirk was back full force and he walked away before Dante could respond. He was still grumbling about rude Ravenclaws with perfect hair when he rejoined his friends.

***

The days became shorter and the temperatures dropped as September bled into October. Dante enjoyed his time at Hogwarts immensely, his classes were interesting, even challenging at times, and he spent most of his free time with his new friends. The library was reserved for his study sessions with Dorian, Hermione, Theo, and Tracey, while weekends were spent with either Draco and Harry who were determined to teach him how to fly, or with all the Slytherins in the common room playing games like exploding snap. One evening, he and Draco tried to teach Harry how to play wizard’s chess, but ended up playing against each other when Harry lost interest. Dante had never been beaten that thoroughly. Of course, Draco was endlessly smug about it.

“Just admit you’re a terrible player and I’ll always be superior.” Draco said as they walked to the dungeons for Potions.

Dante was in no mood for his smugness, so he just glared at the blonde. They’d had Flying that morning and Dante had fallen off his broom right into a puddle. It had resulted in a bruised pride and an aching shoulder.

“Why can’t Hooch just let me skip like Harry.” Dante whined.

“Because Harry can actually stay upright on his broom.” Blaise laughed with the rest of the Slytherins joining in. They stopped when Professor Snape entered the classroom.

“In the spirit of Halloween, we’ll be brewing Pompion Potion today.” Snape looked even more annoyed than usual. “This potion hasn’t got a particular use as it turns one’s head into a pumpkin for a limited amount of time, but I have been informed not every class needs to be… useful.” It was clear Snape didn’t agree with that particular sentiment. “However, it will still give you an opportunity to practice your brewing skill. Something some of you require dearly.”

It was an enjoyable potion to make with more herbs than insects or guts. The class flew by and by the end, Dante bottled his potion just after Hermione.

“Five points to Gryffindor for being the only one of her house to not brew useless sludge.” Professor Snape said as he inspected the potion.

Soon after, the bell rang to signal the end of class, and the students packed up before leaving. Ahead of him, Dante could hear Weasley complain to his friends.

“-such a suck-up, no wonder she doesn’t have any friends.”

Hermione pushed past Dante with tears in her eyes. He tried to stop her, but she twisted out of his grip, quickly disappearing into the girl’s bathroom.

“What the hell did you just say, Weasley?” Harry hissed, clearly having witnessed the display as well.

“I said she’s a suck-up or is your hearing as bad as your sight.” Ron sneered.

“Back off, weasel, before I hex you.” Draco said as he reached for his wand.

Ron grabbed his wand and pointed it at Harry, who refused to back off. Dante grabbed Harry’s robes and pulled him back while he raised his own wand.

“Put your wand away Weasley, before you regret it.” Dante growled at him.

“That is sound advice, Mr Emhrys. All of you, put your wands away before you take an eye out.” Snape ordered shortly, appearing out of nowhere “Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr Weasley, now run along before I double it. Potter, Malfoy, and Emhrys with me.” Weasley glared at Snape, but let his friends pull him along.

The remaining three boys shuffled back into the classroom and waited for Snape to start scolding them.

“Weasley’s behaviour was inexcusable,” Snape began, “that does not mean that you can go and throw threats around.” Snape looked at all of them sharply.

“But sir, he’s been bullying Hermione ever since she got here.” Harry tried to explain.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you cannot threaten fellow students, if you are concerned for Miss Granger’s wellbeing, you should inform a member of staff, preferably her Head of House, and let them handle it.”

“I’m sorry sir, I just don’t like bullies, and teachers don’t always help.” Harry said softly, looking down at his oversized trainers.

Snape blinked at Harry for a second as if to process what he had just said. “Very well, I will not be taking any points this time around, but I will not be as forgiving next time. If you are so hellbent on being white knights, try not to be so obvious next time.” Snape smirked at the three boys before him.

They left the class, looking at each other with mouths agape. Dante couldn’t believe the strictest teacher just let them off the hook and gave them advice so as not to get caught next time. 

When they told their fellow Slytherins, they were just as shocked, but Pansy just giggled with glee and started planning their revenge on Weasley. Their plans became more and more elaborate as they walked to the Great Hall as everyone chimed in.

“Should we go get Hermione, I feel bad for leaving her.” Dante said to the group.

“We told you, she needs a little space, she was embarrassed and really doesn’t need someone trying to fix it for her right now.” Pansy explained.

“But she’ll miss the feast.” Dante tried again.

“We’ll take her to the kitchens to get some leftovers, she won’t miss a thing.” Daphne attempted to placate him.

“You can do that?” Greg and Vince asked in near unison.

The group collectively rolled their eyes as they entered the Great Hall. Jack-o-lanterns were floating above them instead of the usual candles and the ceiling was enchanted to depict a lightning storm. There were bigger pumpkins spread out across the room that had the different house sigils carved into them. Dante wondered if they had taken them from Hagrid’s pumpkin patch that big, or if they just enlarged them. The tables were filled with sweets and pastries, making Dante’s stomach growl. Greg and Vince seemed to agree, because they shoved past him to get to their seats. Dante had never seen them move that fast. They were already stuffing their face when the rest of them got there to dig in as well. Dante piled his plate high with various chocolates and other sweet things when he nearly dropped it at the loud bang of the doors slamming open. A very frazzled Professor Quirrell charged down the middle of the room.

“TROLL! IN THE DUNGEON! TROLL…” The man screamed, “I thought you oughta know.” He fainted right in the middle of the room.

For a second, there was complete silence before all hell broke loose. Students screamed as they tried to scramble out of their seats.

“SILENCE!” Dumbledore’s voice echoed through the hall, making them stop to stare at him. “Everyone calm down. Prefects gather your students and lead them to your common rooms, teachers will follow me to the dungeons.” 

The prefects jumped into action, grabbing any stray students and forcing them in orderly lines.

“He does know our common room is in the dungeons, right.” Pansy shrieked.

They started moving as one when it hit Dante. He grabbed Draco and Harry and dragged them out of line.

“Hermione is still in the dungeon bathroom.” He hissed at them.

The other boys blanched at the reminder. “We need to go get her.” Harry said urgently.

“There’s a troll in the-“ Draco began, but Harry and Dante were already running to a shortcut that led down to the dungeons.

Dante heard Draco curse behind him, but knew the blonde would follow. Hermione needed their help right now. The boys’ fast pace ate up the steps and they burst into the dungeon hallway in no time. Locating the right bathroom, they slammed the door open to find her.

“Hermione, are you in here!” Dante yelled.

“Dante? Go away, you aren’t allowed in here.” Hermione sniffled.

“There’s a bloody troll on the loose, Granger, so excuse us if we don’t adhere to bathroom etiquette.” Draco said hurriedly.

This made Hermione rush out of her stall as she looked at them with wide eyes. “A troll?!”

“Yes, now come on, we need to get out of here.” Harry said, grabbing her hand and dragging her to the door.

They hurried out of the dungeons back to where they came from, but slowed to a halt when they heard a loud scraping noise behind them. The group spun around and were faced with a twelve-foot troll, dragging a large wooden club behind it. Their presence did not go unnoticed by the troll either, because it started towards them, club swinging high.

“RUN!” Dante screamed.

They jumped away just in time as the club was brought down a few feet behind them. The troll roared in displeasure as he stalked the students down the hall. Draco shoved them all out of the way of the second blow, making them all fall against the wall. Dante grabbed his wand and rolled onto his back.

“Expelliarmus!”

The club shot from the troll’s hands far out of reach. For a second, it looked very confused, before its anger returned and it raised its hands to strike down on the helpless students instead.

“Stupefy!” Professor Snape yelled from behind the troll.

The red jet of light didn’t seem to faze the troll, but it did distract it from attacking the students. It turned towards Snape and began to advance when a large statue of a lion was levitated over its head and brought down by Professor McGonagall.

“Incarcerous.” She said calmly as ropes shot from her wand and enveloped the troll. “What, in Merlin’s name, are you four doing here.”

“I-It was my fault Professor, I was in the bathroom during the feast and they came to warn me about the troll.” Hermione answered.

“Why were you in the bathroom, Miss Granger, are you ill?” McGonagall seemed torn between annoyance and concern.

“There was an incident after my class this afternoon, I thought the matter had been resolved, but I was not aware Miss Granger hadn’t rejoined her classmates.” Snape cut in.

McGonagall seemed to consider this for a while before nodding to her colleague. “Alright, I’ll inform the Headmaster that the troll has been located after I’ve escorted Miss Granger back to her common room.” She turned swiftly with Hermione on her tail.

“That was quick thinking with the disarming charm, Mr Emhrys.” Snape turned his gaze on Dante to give him an approving nod.

“Thank you, sir.” Dante smiled at the praise.

The Potion’s Master turned and beckoned them to follow. On their way to the common room, they came across Professor Quirrell, who jumped at their presence.

“Oh, S-Severus, have they ca-caught the t-t-troll?” The professor stuttered.

“It has been taken care of, Quirrell, you can rest easy.” Snape said, suspicion gleaming in his dark eyes as he narrowed them at the man.

Dante followed his gaze wondering what his Head of House was looking at so intently, but, before Dante could see anything, Quirrell quickly excused himself and continued on his way. His limping did not go unnoticed by Dante. Snape simply hummed to himself as he led them further. It was only a short walk after that to their common room, where they were met with all the Slytherin students scattered across the room enjoying the feast that had appeared on the tables there. Dante’s stomach rumbled again, so he grabbed a plate and put on as many things as he could.

After explaining what had happened to their classmates, the boys found a secluded corner to discuss what they saw.

“Is it just me, or is Quirrell hiding something?” Draco whispered.

“No, he’s definitely hiding something. Did you see the way Snape was glaring at him though? If I were Quirrell I would be terrified right now.” Dante whispered back.

“He must’ve been trying to get past that three-headed dog and it caught him in the leg.” Harry added.

“We need to figure out what it’s protecting and why Quirrell wants it.” Draco said decisively.

They went back to their meal, but were continuously interrupted by questions from other students. By the end of the night, Dante had eaten so much that he felt like he was going to explode. He wasn’t the only one judging by the groaning coming from the other beds. The sugar from the feast in combination with the adrenaline still running through his veins made it impossible to try to sleep though, so he grabbed the unfinished letter laying on his bedside table. He had been writing Talpy throughout the year and he felt like this night needed to be included in his weekly update. This was definitely a Halloween to remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think I'll be able to post the next chapter next week, because I have exams soon, but I'll try my best.


	4. Harry Plays His First Quidditch Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Turns out I did have time for writing, although I'm pretty sure I'm gonna fail my exams, but who cares. Enjoy this Harry chapter guys!

November was largely spent on the quidditch pitch by Harry. The quidditch season was starting and the captain, Marcus Flint, had ramped up training as the first match neared. It had taken Harry a while to find his place on the team after Professor Snape practically forced him on them. The first training session had been brutal as Flint wanted a reason to kick him off the team again, but when Harry proofed himself capable of keeping up, they started to come around. Now, the team functioned like a well-oiled machine, resulting in Adrian Pucey, one of the chasers, to already declare them the winners. Adrian’s confidence did nothing to ease Harry’s nerves on the morning of the Gryffindor-Slytherin match.

“You’re gonna have to eat something, Harry.” Draco told him.

“I’m not hungry.” Harry replied absently.

Draco rolled his eyes as he buttered a piece of toast, which he forced into Harry’s hands. He grudgingly took it and struggled through a few bites. Before Draco could force feed him more toast, Hermione and Neville came up to their table.

“Good luck today, Harry.” Neville smiled shyly at him.

“Just try to let our seeker catch the snitch.” Hermione smirked a little.

Harry rolled his eyes, but smiled at his friends. “Thanks guys, I’ll try to not go too hard on your seeker.”

They said their goodbyes, before heading off to their own table. The quick interruption had helped Harry with his nerves a bit, but they were back with a vengeance. It only worsened when he saw his teammates get up to head down to the field. He grabbed his Nimbus and followed his team, waving over his shoulder at his friends. The walk down, Harry spent mostly in silence, while Adrian chattered away as usual. He was a little jealous of the other boy’s obvious lack of nervous and hoped he would get more confident as he played more games. 

Once inside the changing rooms, Harry took a deep breath before getting his gear on, getting ready for to head out. Flint interrupted his thoughts with a loud whistle.

“Alright, team, aside from a new seeker and chaser, the Gryffindor team hasn’t changed, so it should be an easy win. Potter, try to stay focussed and catch that snitch.” Flint said before turning abruptly and heading out of the changing rooms.

“Don’t worry about him, Harry, you’ll be fine, everyone’s nervous before their first match.” Adrian clapped him on the back as he headed out after their captain

Still feeling a little wrong-footed, Harry walked out last onto the pitch to a mix of cheers from the Slytherins and boos from all the other houses. They were all rooting for Gryffindor it seemed, no surprises there. The prejudice against Slytherin House was something Harry had slowly gotten used to. It had been mentioned a lot by the prefects, but also Professor Snape, that they had to have each other’s backs outside of the confines of the Slytherin walls. Inside they could hate each other, but outside of those walls, they had to put up a united front to withstand anything the other Houses might throw at them.

“Captains, shake hands,” Madam Hooch ordered, “now I want a nice, clean game, alright.” She looked sternly at both teams before blowing her whistle.

Harry drifted high above the playing field to start his search for the snitch. The Gryffindor Seeker, MacLaggen, hovered a few feet away doing the same. Flint had told him that MacLaggen was a terrible flyer, so he should have no trouble beating him to the snitch.

“Bell passes the quaffle to Spinnet,” Harry heard the commentator say, “Spinnet ducks a bludger, tries to shoot, but, ooh, narrow save by Bletchley.”

Both teams gave their best, leaving the score very close at 40-30 with Gryffindor leading. Harry kept an ear out for the commentary, while he continued to scan for the golden flutter of wings. He had abandoned his stationary hover and was now flying laps around the pitch. As he passed the Slytherin stand, he waved at his friends. Neville and Hermione had apparently decided to join the Slytherins, but remained in their house colours. The distraction caused him to almost collide with MacLaggen.

“Watch where you’re going, Potter.”

“How about you learn to fly first, MacLaggen.” Harry said.

“I can outfly you with my eyes closed, Potter,” MacLaggen replied hotly, “I deserved my spot on this team, unlike you, who only got in on fame.” 

Harry snorted, but didn’t reply. MacLaggen seemed like the type to resort to physical violence if you pushed too many buttons. Although, that might get them a penalty. Harry shook his head to dispel the thought, he was not risking getting punched in the face, for such a small advantage. So, he flew off to the other side of the pitch, so he could focus on the game.

“Pucey in possession, passes to Montague, who dodges two bludgers and Johnson. He takes a hard right, shoots and… It’s in! Giving Slytherin the lead with 40-50. Wood passes the ball to Spinnet and the Gryffindors go to att- Wait a minute! MacLaggen shoots off in pursuit of the snitch, the first time it has been spotted in the game!”

Harry cursed and took off after MacLaggen, gaining on him quickly with his faster broom. It didn’t seem like enough, however, because MacLaggen was already reaching out his hand. A blur of silver and green surged forward to block the seeker’s path and stopped MacLaggen from catching the snitch. The stands erupted into angry shouting as MacLaggen swerved out of the way.

“A disgusting foul by the Slytherin captain!” The commentator shouts. “He should be sent off for trying to kill the Gryffindor seeker!” Harry heard Professor McGonagall in the background scolding the boy for his impartiality.

“Madam Hooch has given the Gryffindor team a penalty, which is a very reasonable punishment for attempted murder.”

“Jordan!” McGonagall threatened.

Tuning out the commentary, Harry turned his attention back to the game where Johnson scored the penalty. He rose again to his place above the playing field and scanned for any sign of a golden flutter.

A few minutes passed when suddenly his broom jerked to the side. Harry grabbed the handle firmly when it jerked again, this time with more force. His broom started to buck like an angry bull trying its best to throw Harry off. It shook, jerked, and tried to twist out of his grip, making it very hard for Harry to hold on.

“Flint!” Harry called out desperately.

His broom flew up sharply and flipped, leaving Harry dangling beneath it as it continued to move around erratically. Harry looked around for help, but whenever one of the players tried to get close to him the broom moved away. He fought hard to keep his grip, but it was getting increasingly difficult. Harry squeezed his eyes shut in his effort to hold on, but his fingers were slowly slipping. 

Just as he thought he couldn’t hold on any longer, the broom stopped moving. Harry opened his eyes in surprise. Not about to question it, he swung his leg back over the broom and sat down gratefully. He flew towards the pitch, eager to get off his broom when something flew into his mouth. At first, he thought it was a bug, but quickly realised it was the snitch when he tasted metal. Once he landed, he spat it out to show Madam Hooch.

“It seems Potter has recovered and caught the snitch!” Jordan called out. “That means Slytherin has won 50-210!”

The Slytherin crowd went wild and stormed the pitch to congratulate the team. Hermione ran to him to envelop him in a fierce hug.

“We were so worried about you!”

“What the hell was that?! My broom felt like it was possessed.” Harry gasped, still out of breath.

Dante and Draco exchanged a dark look. “We’ll catch you up once you get changed.” Draco said grimly.

Harry felt his heart drop at their look, so he changed as quickly as he could and joined his friends outside of the pitch.

“What’s going on guys?” Harry asked urgently.

Draco cast a cautious look around him before responding. “It was Quirrell, he jinxed your broom.”

Dante nodded gravely, but Hermione looked at them in disbelief.

“What are you talking about? It was Snape, I read about jinxes and it said the caster can’t break eye-contact and Snape didn’t blink once.”

“Neither did Quirrell,” Dante countered, “Snape pushed him over when his robes caught on fire… I still don’t know how that happened.”

Hermione turned bright red at Dante’s comment. “I might have an idea about what happened.”

“You didn’t!” Draco gasped. “Did you seriously set fire to a Professor!” 

Hermione quickly shushed him, looking around to see if anyone heard him. Harry was about to ask how the hell she managed that when Hagrid came up to their group.

“Harry, are yeh alright? Had us worried there for a second.”

“I’m fine Hagrid.” Harry smiled slightly at the groundskeeper.

“Fine?! A teacher tried to kill you, I wouldn’t call that fine!” Draco cut in.

Hagrid looked confused between the group. “What are yeh talking about?”

“Quirrell jinxed Harry’s broom.” Dante replied.

“Don’t be ridiculous, why’d he do that?” Hagrid demanded.

“We think he’s after whatever that three-headed dog is guarding.” Harry said.

The boys had tried to speculate about what the dog was guarding and if it was the only line of defense. Harry didn’t think it was since Dumbledore didn’t strike him as someone to rely on just one failsafe. They had tried to imagine what the other obstacles might entail, but there were too many possibilities.

“How do yeh know about Fluffy?” Hagrid asked.

“Fluffy?! That thing has a name?!” Draco questioned incredulously.

“O’ course he has a name, he’s mine. Bought him of a Greek feller I met down at the pub last year. Then I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the-“

“Yes?” Harry asked him eagerly.

“Shouldn’t’ve said that… No more question!” Hagrid pointed a stern finger at the four of them. “You’re meddling in things that ought not to be meddled in, it’s dangerous. What that dog is guarding is strictly between Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel.”

“Nicolas Flamel? Who’s that?” Harry asked him.

“I shouldn’t’ve said that, I should not have said that.” Hagrid muttered to himself. “Yeh should get back to yer common room before yeh miss the party.” Hagrid hurried away before they could get him to spill any more secrets.

“So, do any of you know who Nicolas Flamel is?” Harry hoped that at least one of his friends had heard about him before, but luck wasn’t on his side, because they all shook their heads.

“I guess we’ll have to hit the library then,” Dante said making Draco groan. “but first, we need to celebrate.” He grinned.

Harry and Draco wholeheartedly agreed, so they made their way back to the castle where they parted ways with Hermione.

When they got to their common room the party was already in full swing. There was music blasting from a wireless that Harry didn’t recognise and people were dancing on a makeshift dance floor in the middle of the room. There were snacks and drinks on the far end of the room, making Harry realise how hungry he actually was.

“Ah, the man of the hour!” Blaise announced to everyone, making them cheer.

The other first-years came over to congratulate him, while the rest of the Slytherins went back to their festivities. Harry got a fierce hug from Daphne, who told him in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t allowed to scare her like that again. Even Millicent had been worried, apparently, because her thump on Harry’s back lacked its usual force.

“Even after your broom tries to kill you, you end up catching the snitch, now that is talent.” Theo laughed, but stopped when Daphny glared at him.

“Did you find out what happened?” Tracey frowned in concern.

Harry was saved from having to answer when the music suddenly stopped. The dancing students were about to complain when they saw who the source of the disruption was. Professor Snape had just entered the common room and had stopped the wireless with a flick of his wand.

“Don’t worry, you can continue your festivities in a second,” he addressed the room, “Mr Potter if you could follow me, and bring your broom.”

Harry shared a look with his classmates, before getting his broom and following Snape into the hall. Just as the door closed behind him, the music continued, getting more muffled as they walked through the halls at a brisk pace. Snape came to a halt in front of his office door and gestured for Harry to enter.

“I will be taking that.” Snape said as he plucked Harry’s broom from his hands.

“But sir-“ Harry tried, but was interrupted.

“Don’t be dramatic Mr Potter, I’m not confiscating it, I’m merely taking the broom to Professor Flitwick to make sure this… incident doesn’t happen again.”

“Thank you, sir.” Harry sighed in relief.

Snape nodded at Harry to signal his dismissal, but before Harry could open the door, Snape spoke again.

“Oh, and tell Miss Granger to be more subtle next time. Assaulting the staff is frowned upon.”

Harry gaped at Snape as he quickly tried to come up with excuses for her, but stopped when he saw a smirk beginning to form on the man’s face.

“Run along now, Mr Potter, you don’t want to miss your first house party.” Professor Snape waved him off.

Harry took the out and beat a hasty retreat back to the common room. Hermione was never going to believe him when he told her.

“What happened, did Snape kick you off the team?” Draco asked worriedly once Harry returned.

“No, don’t worry. I’ll tell you later, first, I want something to eat.” Harry told the blonde as his stomach rumbled again.

After he raided the snack table, he told Draco and Dante what Snape had said, which left them wondering why they didn’t anti-jinx all the players’ brooms.

“Thank Merlin, you’re finally finished eating,” Draco said with a roll of his eyes, “let’s dance!”

Harry spluttered in protest as he was dragged to the dance floor. “Draco, I don’t know how to dance!”

The blonde stared at him in disbelief, making Harry blush. It wasn’t his fault that the Dursleys never let him go to any parties. A determined glint sparked in Draco’s eyes as he took Harry’s hands.

“Here, I’ll teach you,” he told him, “it’s not that hard, you listen to the rhythm of the music, and sort of sway to it.”

Harry tried to copy Draco’s movements, but, apparently, he wasn’t doing a very good job, because soon Draco dissolved into a fit of giggles. This resulted in Harry abandoning his attempts at dancing properly and just moved erratically to make keep Draco laughing. His friends joined in, leaving them all breathless on the floor from laughing too hard. They were still giggling when they headed to their dormitory. If every party was like this, Harry couldn’t wait for the next one.

***

The next morning, all of Slytherin house missed breakfast in favour of sleeping in. It was almost eleven when Harry, Dante, and Draco made their way downstairs to the kitchens to get breakfast. Harry still marveled at the flappy eared creatures running around there, it made him curious about all the other magical creatures the wizarding world was hiding from him.

After breakfast, the boys made their way to the library where Hermione was already rooting through heavy tomes.

“I’ve already read through these,” Hermione said as she pointed to the books on her left, “the ones on the right still need to be looked through. Oh, and Harry I’ve also looked up spells to make your broom less vulnerable to jinxes.”

“Don’t worry, Snape has already taken my broom to Flitwick to ward it against jinxes.” Harry said.

“Oh… That’s actually a very good idea.” She admitted.

She still seemed hesitant to trust Snape, but Harry knew exactly what to say to convince her otherwise. “He also asked me to tell you to be more subtle next time you assault a staff member.”

Hermione turned bright red while the boys laughed. The fun was quickly over when Harry had to skim through book after book for the name ‘Nicolas Flamel’. After what felt like his hundredth book, he couldn’t take it any longer and told Hermione they needed a break. She grudgingly agreed and the four friends set off to the Great Hall for a few rounds of exploding snap. 

On their way there, they passed the door to the third-floor corridor. Harry sniffed the air as he smelled something out of place. It took him a minute to register the scent as garlic. They were too far away from the kitchens to smell cooking, so it could only have one explanation. He held out his arm to stop his friends and pushed them back around the corner.

“Potter, what are yo-“ Draco questioned, but Harry shushed him.

Right then, Professor Quirrell popped his head around the door to see if anyone was there and smoothly stepped out when he thought the coast was clear. The group waited until he disappeared down the stairs before deeming it safe enough to talk.

“Okay, you’ve convinced me about Quirrell now.” Hermione was the first to break the silence.

“I’m glad you’ve finally decided to see some sense.” Draco drawled, making Hermione stick her tongue out at the blonde.

“The question is now, what is that beast guarding and why does Quirrell want it?” Dante cut in before the two could start bickering.

“I don’t know,” Harry said thoughtfully, “but we need to figure it out, quickly.”

“What are you thinking?” Dante asked.

“We’ll have to find out who Flamel is and keep an eye on Quirrell.” Harry shrugged.

The others nodded and quickly found a secluded place to start planning. They decided that they would split into groups and alternate between searching for a mention of Nicolas Flamel in the library and following Quirrell around to see if he did anything suspicious. Harry hoped that whatever Fluffy was guarding wasn’t something life-threatening, but he couldn’t shake the bad feeling he felt growing in the pit of his stomach.


	5. Dante Sees His Mom

Dante wasn’t sure how many times he had seen Quirrell get startled by his own shadow, but he knew it wasn’t getting them anywhere. They hadn’t found anything in the library about Nicolas Flamel either and he was losing motivation to keep looking. The Christmas break was coming up, so that gave them the perfect opportunity to pause their search. Draco and Harry had readily agreed, but Hermione had taken some persuading. Eventually, she agreed, so Dante could enjoy his Christmas break with minimal studying, only having some holiday homework to complete. 

Most of the first years had gone home for the holidays except for Harry and him. It didn’t surprise him in the least. From what little he had heard about the other boy’s upbringing, it wasn’t hard to figure out he had a similarly messed up home life. Hogwarts was more of a home to both of them, something the others wouldn’t understand. It was nice to know he wasn’t the only one, even if they never talked about it.

On Christmas morning, Dante woke to a loud gasp from beside him. He blinked open his eyes to see Harry staring at the pile of presents at the foot of his bed.

“Whazzit?” Dante tried to form words, but his sleep-addled mind didn’t seem to be working.

“Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.” Harry mumbled apologetically.

Dante yawned as he stretched himself. “Don’t worry, mate, I get it, Christmas presents are the best.”

Dante stumbled out of bed to join Harry in unwrapping their presents. It had been quite difficult to find gifts for all of his friends, but he thought he’d done a pretty good job. Not sure what the proper spending range was, since he’d never had friends before, he had just bought things he thought his friends would appreciate. He had bought Hermione a book about jinxes; he got Draco a new scarf since he complained about the cold all the time; Dorian got a big supply of a hair potion he had been raving about and a few of his favourite sweets; Neville was quickly becoming the best student in Herbology, so Dante bought him some magical seeds; and Harry was just opening his present that held new quidditch gloves.

“Thanks, Dante, these’ll come in handy.” Harry smiled at him.

“They form to fit your hand, so once you finally grow, they’ll grow with your hands.” Dante teased.

“Not everyone can be as tall as you, you git.” Harry shoved him playfully.

“There are plenty of people taller than me, have you seen Millicent?” This just earned him another shove.

Dante turned back to his own presents, eager to see what his friends had gotten him. He knew well enough not to expect anything from his father. There was a book about flying techniques from Hermione, a book about chess strategy from Draco, a comb that promised to tame even the wildest hair from Dorian, and Harry had given him a muggle book about some fictional king.

“It’s a popular muggle story about a king and Merlin is his advisor,” Harry rubbed the back of his neck, “I thought you might like to read about the muggle’s take on him, but I can get you something else if you want.”

“No, this is great, muggles have always fascinated me, thank you.” Dante grinned at his friend.

It was true, he found them endlessly fascinating. It always amazed him how they went through life without magic, how they found their way through time and evolved. He had to admit that his interest also stemmed from his father’s hatred of them. Ever the silent rebel, he had secretly learned about them as much as he could.

“What the hell?!”

Startled by Harry’s outburst, Dante turned back to see what caused it. Instead of his friend’s full form, Dante was met by only the top half of Harry’s body. His concern quickly turned into confusion as Harry grabbed shimmery fabric from his lap to reveal his legs. He threw the shimmery fabric around himself and completely disappeared.

“What the hell?!” Dante repeated.

“Wicked!” Harry said from somewhere behind Dante. 

He appeared again in front of the mirror and went back to his bed to grab a note that had fallen from the cloak.

“What is that?” Dante questioned.

“Do you recognise this handwriting?” Harry asked, ignoring his question.

Dante took the paper from Harry and studied it, but nothing jumped out at him as familiar. They pondered it over a few chocolate frogs that Hermione had gifted Harry, but came up with nothing. They abandoned their speculations in favour of joining the other remaining students for Christmas lunch.

The Great Hall was beautifully decorated with a giant Christmas tree near the teacher’s table, and ornaments all along the walls. They must’ve missed a few Christmas crackers because half the staff was already wearing silly hats. It was a nice change from the Christmases at the manor, or even worse at the ministry. Those had always been dreadfully boring and formal while this looked cozy and fun.

Dante’s predictions turned out to be right. The food was even more delicious than usual and Harry taught him muggle Christmas carols. In return, Dante taught him how to change scones into snowballs, which caused a small snowball fight at the Slytherin table. After a stray snowball hit Professor Quirrell square in the face, they were asked to take it outside. This unleashed a vicious snow war between the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs, and the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws.

“Heads up!” Dante yelled at Harry when multiple snowballs came whizzing at their snow bank.

“We need to give those twins a taste of their own medicine.” Harry said with a breathless laugh.

Dante had seen the twins around the school before, they were hard to miss really, but hadn’t officially been introduced. His experience with the younger Weasley sibling made him wary of any redheads, but to his surprise, they actually hit it off. They were much less suspicious of Slytherins, which helped a lot, and they were very fun to hang out with.

Dante got up to throw another snowball, but was nearly hit by one of the twins’, so his shot went wide, hitting, once again, a very unlucky Professor Quirrell.

“Oh, shit.” Dante said as he dove back behind the snowbank.

He heard the twins’ uproarious laughter and when he dared to sneak a look he saw them jinxing snowballs to shoot off after Quirrell, hitting him in the back of the turban. Dante stared at them wide-eyed, which turned out to be a mistake, because now the snowballs started to zoom his way, restarting the battle.

After both sides insisted they had won, they went back inside to drink hot cocoa and stuff themselves with the Christmas feast. Dante was warm, full, and very tired when he finally got back to the dorm, so it only took him a couple of minutes to fall into a deep slumber.

He startled awake again a few hours later when Harry barged into the dorm and started shaking his shoulders.

“-ke up, you have to see this.” Harry’s words filtered into Dante’s tired mind.

“Are you gonna make a habit of this?” Dante said as he rubbed at his eyes.

Apparently, Harry had no patience for his grumbling, because he pulled him out of bed and into the corridor as soon as Dante had given him a sign of life. When they reached the common room Dante had finally gathered his thoughts enough to protest.

“What’s going on, Harry?” Dante demanded, pulling his arm from the other boy’s grip.

“I need to show you something, it’s important!” Harry said as he grabbed his arm again.

Dante resigned to getting no answers from Harry, so he didn’t protest when he threw his new invisibility cloak over them.

It was tricky to find a rhythm for walking under the cloak together, but after some trial and error, they managed it. Harry halted in front of a classroom, which was empty save for a large mirror in the middle of the room.

“Have Daphne and Blaise infected you with their vanity?” Dante joked as Harry hurried to sit in front of the mirror.

“Shut up, and come here.”

Rolling his eyes, Dante made his way over to him. Harry scooted to the side to let him stand in front of the mirror. He was about to ask Harry what was so special about it when he gasped in surprise. Right there, next to his reflection was his mother, smiling at him. They were in a small living room it seemed, so very different from the cavernous rooms in the manor.

“What do you see?” Harry asked him urgently.

“M-my mom.” Dante managed, eyes glued to the image of his mother. “But how is that possible, she’s dead.”

“I don’t know, I see a lot of my family too, my parents…” Harry confessed to him.

“How’s that possible?” He replied, still not able to tear his eyes away from his mother’s form.

Harry shrugged. “No idea, the only thing I could find was the inscription.”

Finally, Dante’s eyes were able to move again as he looked at the mirror’s frame. Carved into it were the words: ‘Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi’. He had never seen a language like it.

“I didn’t know your mother was dead.” Harry said softly, breaking Dante out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, it’s not something I like to talk about,” Dante smiled sadly, “she died when I was born. ‘Complications from labour’ my dad told me, but that’s about it. I just think it’s so strange how we have all this magic and the medi-wizards still couldn’t save her from such a mundane death.”

Harry grabbed his shoulder firmly as a form of comfort and it made Dante smile grow a little warmer. He felt very lucky for meeting Harry, he couldn’t have wished for a better friend.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Harry told him with more understanding than anyone who had ever said those words to him.

“I’m sorry for yours.” He replied just as earnestly.

“Do you… er, do you want to talk about it?” Harry asked hesitantly.

“There’s not really a lot to talk about,” Dante sighed, “I never knew her and my dad won’t tell me about her. I don’t have any family on her side, so the only source of information I have are the house-elves and they refuse to answer any of my questions. I learned to stop asking questions quickly.”

“I get it, my aunt and uncle never told me about my parents. They lied about how they died and about the wizarding world.” Harry twisted his hands angrily in his lap. “People keep telling me how brave they were, how they’re heroes, and that’s great, but I want to know more. I want to know what they liked to do on lazy days, what their favourite food was, what music they listened to. I want to know the things that don’t matter, I want to know them not the perfect picture everyone paints of them.”

Dante nodded in understanding. “There must be people out there that knew them right, who were their friends? Didn’t Hagrid know them?”

“He did, but he finds it hard to talk about, so he usually ends up crying.”

“Maybe you can ask Snape.” Dante said thoughtfully.

“What? Why?” Harry asked.

“Well, I’m pretty sure he’s around the same age as your parents, so he might know who they hung out with.”

Harry’s eyes lit up. “Do you really think he might know?”

“You won’t know if you don’t try, right? Knowing them is important to you, Snape’ll understand.” Dante shrugged.

“I’ll think about it.”

The boys smiled ruefully at each other and stayed a while longer, alternating who sat in front of the mirror. Eventually, they grabbed the cloak and headed back to their dormitory. Both falling asleep as dawn approached.

***

Dante and Harry woke up well after breakfast the next morning, so they contented with munching on the various treats they had gotten the day before. Dante offered Harry some Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans, but he declined as he happily munched on yet another chocolate frog. It seemed Dante should have followed Harry’s example, because the green bean turned out to be vomit flavoured instead of lime. He quickly ran to the bathroom to rinse the taste out of his mouth. When he came back Harry bounded up to him and shoved a chocolate frog card in his hands.

“Read it.” Harry urged him.

Dante looked at the card in confusion and saw Dumbledore staring back at him. At another encouragement from Harry, Draco’s bossiness was really rubbing off on him, Dante started reading the card.

‘Considered by many to be the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of Dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel…’

Dante’s eyes shot up to meet Harry’s who grinned widely.

“You found him!” Dante cheered, rereading the card.

“I found him,” Harry said smugly, “I’ll go grab Hedwig and tell Draco if you can write to Hermione.”

Dante rolled his eyes at Harry’s smugness, another sign he was spending too much time with the blonde. Still, he followed the other boy’s instruction and grabbed a quill and paper. After quickly scribbling down a note about their discovery, the boys bundled up and headed for the Owlery, where both birds happily greeted them. The rest of the day was spent similarly to the one before with another snowball fight, lots of cocoa, and a delicious dinner. This time, however, Dante didn’t fall asleep as easily. He couldn’t stop thinking about the mirror and his mother.

“Harry?” He whispered into the dark.

Unsurprisingly, Harry whispered back. “Yeah?”

“Do you want to go to the mirror again?”

The only reply he got was the sound of Harry’s covers being thrown back, so he followed Harry, and soon they were under the cloak walking to the empty classroom. Just like the night before they took turns looking in the mirror. They were so entranced by the visions it was showing them that they didn’t hear the creak of the door as it opened.

“I told Albus it wasn’t a good idea to leave it unattended.” Snape’s drawling voice broke the silence.

Dante jumped at the noise and whirled around. “Professor! We didn’t mean to-”

Snape held up his hand before speaking. “I see you have fallen into the trap of the mirror.” He pinched the bridge of his nose with an exasperated sigh.

His annoyance didn’t seem to be directed at Harry and Dante, though. Still, Dante didn’t dare ask any questions, for fear of turning that anger his way. Apparently, Harry was much braver than him and broke the silence.

“How does it work, Professor?” Harry asked.

“Read the inscription backwards, Mr Potter.” Snape replied simply.

Harry hesitated a moment as he puzzled out the words. “I show not your face but your heart’s desire…”

“Exactly, do you know what that means?” Snape questioned the boys.

“It shows you what you want most in the world.” Dante answered.

Snape nodded at him. “It shows you your deepest desire, which can be both illuminating, but also very dangerous.”

“Sir?” Dante looked at the mirror more warily now.

“People have wasted away before this mirror, captivated by the images it shows them. Reality becoming unappealing in comparison to it.” Snape said seriously.

It made sense for people to prefer the mirror, hell, Dante was one of those people. He hadn’t been able to think about anything else and he’d only known about the mirror for one day.

“I’m sorry sir, I’ve just never seen my parents before.” Harry said sounding guilty.

“Has Petunia not told you about them?” Snape asked sharply.

Dante looked confusedly between his professor and his friend. They must know something he didn’t because Harry looked at Snape with his mouth agape.

“You know my aunt?!”

Harry’s outburst made Dante look at Professor Snape in surprise, he somehow hadn’t pictured his professor knowing anyone outside of Hogwarts, let alone Harry’s muggle aunt.

Snape seemed to only now realise what he’d said because he hesitated before answering. “I’ve had the… pleasure of meeting your aunt when I visited your mother.”

“So you did know my mom!” Harry looked at Dante victoriously.

Snape winced at Harry’s words. “Yes,” he said shortly before sweeping a hand towards the door “I will escort you back to your dormitory, but I want to see you tomorrow morning, Mr Potter, to discuss the appropriate use of that cloak of yours.”

Harry gripped the cloak tightly and looked ready to protest, but he was silenced by Snape’s glare.

“I won’t be taking it from you, I just want to set a few ground rules, now come along.”

Harry looked at the Potion’s Master desperately, but didn’t say anything else. It was probably best he didn’t, even though Dante felt a strong urge to demand answers from the man himself. Still, if Snape used to be friends with Harry’s mum, then it might be hard for him to talk about her. On the other hand, Harry deserved answers and if Snape could give him those, he should.

They stopped in front of the common room and Professor Snape looked at them sharply.

“The mirror will be moved tomorrow. Don’t go looking for it, it’s better left forgotten.”

“But, sir-“ Harry tried.

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning Mr Potter, you can ask your questions then.” With that, he swiftly turned around and disappeared down the hall.

Harry and Dante made their way up to the dorm. They didn’t talk much as they got back under the covers, both processing what Snape had told them.

“Goodnight, Dante.” Harry whispered.

“Goodnight, Harry.” Dante whispered back.

Dante fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming about a life he’d never have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh we're halfway guys, thank you so much for sticking with the story this far! I really enjoy your comments and kudos so thank you so much. I've already started planning the second book :)


	6. Harry Learns About a Certain Stone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a belated Christmas present for everyone reading this, I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays and a happy new year to you all :)

Harry got up way too early after another sleepless night to see Professor Snape. He wasn’t sure whether to trust Snape when he said he wouldn’t take the cloak from him. Adults lied, that’s what they did, and even though Snape hadn’t given any indication that he wasn’t to be trusted, it was a hard concept to unlearn. Still, he couldn’t wait in the hall forever, so he took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

“Enter.” He heard Snape’s commanding voice and swallowed his nerves.

“You wanted to see me, sir?” Harry said as he walked into the office.

It was a big space with bookcases taking up nearly every wall, except for where a large fireplace sat nestled between the shelves. The room was filled with a similar greenish glow due to the windows that looked out into the lake. Snape sat behind a large dark stained wooden desk filled with piles of parchment and potion books. In front of the desk were two similarly coloured chairs with dark green cushions. Harry sat down in one, putting his cloak in his lap and fiddling with the material.

“Oh do stop looking like I have kicked your puppy, Mr Potter, there is no need. I already told you I wouldn’t be taking it.” Snape said with an exasperated tone.

Harry looked up sheepishly, making his professor roll his eyes. “You could’ve changed your mind.”

“No, at least not yet, I am merely warning you to use it wisely and not get caught out of bed again. It is a powerful piece of magic, Mr Potter, one better kept a secret.” Snape’s dark eyes piercing Harry’s with a stern look.

Harry nodded his head with maybe a little too much force, but he had already decided only to tell Dante, Draco, and Hermione about the cloak. It seemed to placate the man, who nodded back at him.

“Where did you get the cloak, Mr Potter?” Snape asked.

“I got it for Christmas, sir, it came with a note saying it belonged to my father, but I don’t know who gave it to me.”

A dark look crossed Snape’s face at the mention of Harry’s father. “That doesn’t surprise me,” he said tersely, “however, I must insist you bring any mysterious packages, no matter how innocent it looks, to me or another member of staff for examination. This time it might have been harmless, but you might not be so lucky next time.”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Harry felt his face warm a little, not even having considered it might have been dangerous. His embarrassment quickly made place for curiosity. Snape just gave him another indication that he knew his parents.

“I’m sorry, sir, but you talk about my parents like you knew them personally.” Harry was hesitant in his inquiry, but at Snape’s nod, he continued. “My aunt and uncle never talked to me about them and I would just like to know more, anything really.”

At first, Harry thought Snape was going to tell him to leave, but after a few seconds passed the man seemed to resign himself to Harry’s questioning.

“It only seems fair, since your relatives are even more useless than I remember.” He sighed, looking exhausted.

“What were they like?” Harry asked without hesitation.

Excitement bubbled in his chest at the knowledge that he might actually learn more about his parents.

“I was only friends with your mother, so I can’t say much about Pot- your father.”

Harry got the impression that Professor Snape didn’t like his father very much, but he wasn’t going to question it if he was willing to tell him about his mother. But where to start, there was so much he wanted to know that it was hard to settle on just one question.

“What were my mum’s favourite things? Like what was her favourite food or what were her hobbies?” Harry eventually asked.

“She loved to read, always telling me about the heroics her fictional characters got up to. She liked spicy foods and sweets, but hated anything to do with blueberries. Her favourite music was ABBA and she would charm the teapots to sing her favourite songs.” Snape seemed very far away as he told Harry about his mother.

Harry almost felt bad for making Snape relive memories that clearly still hurt to think about, but his guilt was beaten by a warmth growing in his chest as he finally learned about something other than the colour of his mother’s eyes or her bravery.

“How did you two meet?”

“She and I lived in the same town and she was the only one who would talk to me. She confided in me about her magical abilities and I showed her mine. We would practice little things, which would drive Petunia mad, but your mother delighted in making her uncomfortable.” A small smirk had worked its way onto Snape’s face at the memory.

Harry grinned too. He would’ve loved to see his aunt fume at her sister’s magical abilities, but had to contend with his imagination. After that Professor Snape told him about their time at Hogwarts and how his mother was very popular with the students and staff. Much too soon Professor Snape had to end their meeting as he had other engagements that day. Still, Harry left with a bright smile and a warm feeling.

***

The rest of the holiday passed by quickly with a lot of snowball fights and exploring under the cloak. Harry had told Dante about the warning Snape had given him, but the other boy took it to mean that should just not get caught. They found many useful shortcuts. One of the shortcuts they found was a staircase that led all the way from the dungeons up to the astronomy tower which would come in handy; another staircase that led them straight to the entrance hall; and a secret corridor from the library to the History of Magic classroom.

The last night of their break, Harry sat in their dormitory waiting eagerly for his other dorm-friends to come back. He had found that he had missed them, and he couldn’t wait to show Draco everything he and Dante had discovered.

“Oh, look Blaise, they waited up for us.” Draco said in his usual drawl as he entered the room.

“How sweet.” Blaise cooed with a smirk.

This earned both the boys a pillow to the face courtesy of Harry and Dante.

“Watch it, you prats, these are new robes.” Draco said as he threw the pillow back at Harry.

Harry threw it again, but harder this time. This resulted in a full-blown pillow fight and soon feathers were flying everywhere. Theo tried to stay out of it, but joined in when Draco hit him over the head a few too many times. Greg and Vince took pleasure in beating each other as hard as they could, grunting out laughs between swings.

After a while of thorough whacking, they all flopped back on their beds and got ready for the night. Harry laid back with a smile, he was glad to have his friends back and couldn’t think of a time he had felt any happier than right now.

Harry was still picking feathers from his hair at breakfast the next morning. He quickly ate his porridge, because he had told Hermione, Draco, and Dante to meet him at the library before class so they could discuss their next step. It was bound to be empty so soon after a break. They hadn’t exchanged any letters about Flamel after Harry had found his name on the chocolate frog card. Now that they knew he was an alchemist, it should be easier to find out what his role was in all of this.

“Did you find anything else about Flamel?” Hermione inquired once they were in the library.

“Well, we kind of wanted to wait for you guys to help us read through the Alchemy books.” Harry shrugged to which Hermione rolled her eyes.

She grumbled something about having to do everything herself, when she turned around and disappeared between the shelves, a few seconds later she returned with a frighteningly thick book.

“Granger, I know you love books, but you need to learn to control yourself.” Draco said to which Hermione stuck out her tongue.

“This,” Hermione said as she dropped the book on the table, “is a book on Alchemy theory, it has all the information one needs about the subject and… yes! Look here, Nicolas Flamel, the only known person to have successfully made the Philosopher’s Stone.” Hermione gasped in delight.

Harry gave her a blank look. “What’s that?”

Hermione looked at him with wide eyes and the boys rolled theirs at his confusion.

“Honestly, Harry. The Philosopher’s Stone can turn any metal into pure gold and it produces the Elixir of Life, making the drinker immortal. That’s why Nicolas Flamel and his wife are over six hundred years old.” Hermione lectured him.

“That’s what Fluffy must be guarding, and what Quirrell is trying to steal.” Harry said as understanding dawned in his eyes.

“Glad you’re caught up.” Draco smirked, making it Harry’s turn to stick his tongue out at the blonde.

“Flamel must’ve known someone was trying to steal it, so he asked Dumbledore for help.” Dante offered.

“Only for him to hire the thief as his Defense teacher.” Draco shook his head.

“We need to warn Dumbledore then.” Harry decided.

“With what proof?” Draco asked. “He will never believe a bunch of eleven-year-olds.”

Draco was right, no one would believe them if they didn’t have any proof. But how were they going to get it, they had followed Quirrell around for weeks and they had never caught him doing anything suspicious. No, they needed to come up with something else.

“We need to make a plan to keep the stone away from Quirrell, if need be, we get it ourselves.” Harry said seriously.

“And how do you suppose we do that? It’s protected by a three-headed dog and who knows what else.” Draco scoffed.

“We can try to pry more out of Hagrid, he isn’t the greatest at keeping secrets.” Dante offered.

The group agreed with Dante’s plan, but it made guilt swirl in Harry’s mind. Using the groundskeeper for information felt wrong, Hagrid was his friend. Dante was right though, Hagrid was their best option, and keeping the stone out of Quirrell’s hands was more important than hurting his feelings.

“Alright, we’ll go tonight under the cloak-“ Harry’s words were cut off by a noise coming from a few rows over.

“Probably a Ravenclaw trying to get in some early studying.” Draco shrugged.

“Maybe we should plan our visit to Hagrid’s a little more privately.” Hermione whispered as she looked around suspiciously.

Harry told both Draco and Hermione about his invisibility cloak and they decided it would be easier if just the Slytherins went to Hagrid’s. It would be an unnecessary risk to also take Hermione, Harry wasn’t even sure if the cloak could cover all four of them.

That’s how the boys found themselves shuffling along the corridors under the cloak. It was a lot harder to move with three people under it, but they managed. They made it outside without too much fuss, deciding it was dark enough to shed the cloak and walk to Hagrid’s without it.

It took longer than usual for Hagrid to answer his door after Harry’s knock. “Oh, hullo. Sorry, don’t wish to be rude, but I’m in no fit state to entertain t’day.”

Hagrid was already closing the door when Harry stopped him. “Hagrid, what are you up to?” Harry asked suspiciously.

Something was rattling in the cauldron over the fire, so Harry went to investigate. He slipped past Hagrid and went over to it. Inside was a large brown egg rolling around.

“Is that a dragon’s egg?” Dante gasped next to him. “Hagrid you can’t go around breeding dragons.” The boy accused.

“I ain’t breeding nothin’, I won it from a feller down at the pub.” Hagrid said as he joined them by the fire. “Seemed glad to be rid of it, actually.”

“Have you looked at your house lately? Last I checked it was very flammable and not a good place to keep a dragon, Hagrid!” Draco hissed at the groundskeeper.

“I wasn’t gonna keep him here forever,” Hagrid said defensively, “jus’ till he was big enough to keep in the forest.”

The boys looked at him incredulously, already having forgotten why they had come. Hagrid paid them no mind as the rattling of the egg grew louder. He took it out and put it on the table as the shell began to break open, revealing a tiny green brownish dragon. It coughed a few times and with it came bursts of flame, catching Hagrid’s beard on fire.

“Hiya Norbert!” Hagrid greeted excitedly.

The dragon looked at him with its amber eyes and started to move towards him. 

“Look he knows who his mummy is!” Hagrid said, his eyes shining bright with amazement.

“Seriously, Hagrid, you can’t keep it. Major safety concerns aside, the dragon needs its space, it will get restless if it’s kept in one place for too long. A restless dragon is a dangerous one.” Draco was looking at Hagrid sternly.

The glare was so impressive that it made Harry wonder whether Draco practiced it in the mirror or if it was natural talent.

“I can let ‘im fly around a few times a week.” The groundskeeper said desperately.

“Oh, and you’ll just keep him on a leash?” Draco scoffed.

“No, you jus’ gotta find some way to control ‘em, don’t matter how big they are, they’ll always have something to calm em. Like with Fluffy, he’ll fall right asleep when yeh play ‘im some music.” Hagrid insisted before realising what he said. “I should not have said that.”

Hagrid’s slip up reminded the boys why they were there, so Harry grabbed onto the subject change.

“If it’s that simple to get past him, then anyone could find out and steal the stone.” He baited Hagrid for more information.

“Pish posh, no one’ll get past Fluffy, and if they did there’ll be the obstacles set by the other teachers.” Hagrid blanched again as he told them even more. “I should not hav-“

Hagrid was cut off by a noise outside his window and as they all turned to look a flash of bright red hair dove out of sight.

“Weasley!” Dante looked at Harry urgently. “He must’ve overheard us in the library.”

Harry grabbed his cloak while Dante dragged Draco to the door.

“I mean it Hagrid, that dragon needs to be with his own kind, you need to send it to a dragon sanctuary.” Were Draco’s parting words before they hurried back to the castle.

The Entrance Hall was thankfully empty, so they hurried towards the dungeons, only to be met by an angry Professor McGonagall and a smug-looking Weasley. At first, Harry thought they might be lucky enough to sneak past the pair, but their shuffling did not go unnoticed by the professor.

“If you would be so kind to take off the cloak, Mr Potter.” McGonagall said tersely.

Snape must’ve told McGonagall about Harry’s new acquisition, so playing dumb was not going to fly. Weasley gasped as Harry pulled off the cloak to reveal the three boys. Not only were they now in trouble, Weasley knew about his cloak. Snape was going to kill him.

“We can explain, Professor.” Dante tried.

“I do not want to hear it. Not only were you out after curfew, but you were also out on the grounds which can be very dangerous after dark.”

Harry noticed she didn’t skip over Weasley in her pointed stare, which made him feel a little better at being caught. The fact that Weasley didn’t seem to notice was even better.

“But Professor, Hagrid-“ Draco was also cut off by the professor.

“Fifty points from each of you, and since you seem so eager to visit Hagrid at all hours, all four of you will be serving your detention with him this weekend.” McGonagall’s tone left no room for negotiation.

Draco tried to splutter a defense, but was cut off by Weasley. “I’m sorry Professor, but did you say the four of us?”

A grin tried to break free on Harry’s face, but he smothered it. He didn’t think McGonagall would take kindly to his gloating.

McGonagall turned her pointed stare on Weasley again. “You heard me correctly Mr. Weasley, they might have been out after curfew, but so were you.”

It was increasingly hard keeping the smirk off of his face, especially when Weasley looked like a fish out of water with the number of times he opened and closed his mouth.

“Now back to your dorms,” McGonagall turned her pointed stare back to the Slytherins, “no detours.”

On their way back they didn’t run into anyone else, which Harry was grateful for. Back in their dorms, they quickly changed into their pyjamas and went to bed.

“At least we know for certain there is more than one obstacle protecting the stone now. It might give us some time before Quirrell makes his move.” Dante said, trying to stay positive.

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” Harry replied.

He wondered how long it would take Quirrell to figure out all of the other obstacles. Snape was already suspicious of the other man, so he wouldn’t give up any information on his test, but the others might not be similarly inclined. It also puzzled him why Dumbledore hired Quirrell in the first place. If Harry and his friends could figure out it was him after the stone then certainly Dumbledore knew right? Hopefully, they still had time to stop Quirrell.


	7. Dante Dislikes Detention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone had a great New Year's and if you didn't celebrate it, then I hope you had a lovely week. Please enjoy the next chapter :)

The forest, the Forbidden Forest, that’s where they were supposed to serve their detention if Filch was to be believed. Dante didn’t appreciate the irony of having to serve detention in a place that was off-limits to students. Filch seemed to delight in it though.

“I’ve got the miscreants right here, Hagrid.” The man sneered.

“Hullo.” Hagrid waved half-heartedly at them.

“I’ll leave you to it. Better keep your eyes open out there boys, you never know what’s lurking in the shadows.” Filch said with a nasty smirk.

Weasley let out a whine at his words. The caretaker chuckled, before turning around to hobble back to the castle. Dante didn’t understand why he worked at Hogwarts if he despised the students so much. Surely there were other jobs available for him that wouldn’t involve having to deal with children.

“Alright you lot, we’ll be looking out for any signs of a unicorn tonight.” The groundskeeper told them without his usual cheer.

“Hagrid are you alright?” Harry asked.

“Fine, jus’ had to say goodbye to Norbert, is all.” Hagrid sniffed. “Sent ‘im off to live in Romania with a colony, Dumbledore said it would be best.” After a long sniffling pause he continued. “Great man, Dumbledore.”

“Well, it’s really the best thing for him, Hagrid.” Draco told him.

“But what if he don’t like Romania, or the other dragons are mean to ‘im? He’s only a baby after all.” Hagrid sounded like an overprotective mother having to part from her child for the first time.

“I’m sure Norbert will be the most popular dragon in his group, he was a very… cute baby.” Draco tried to placate the man.

It seemed to help, because Hagrid took a deep breath and led them into the forest without another word. Fang whined beside him as though he didn’t want to go into the forest either.

“Why are we looking for unicorns, Hagrid?” Dante questioned.

“Something’s been killin’ them lately, and I wanted to look for wounded ones.” Hagrid explained calmly.

“What kind of creature would kill a unicorn?” Dante asked, appalled.

“No idea, whatever it is, it can’t be anything good.” Hagrid replied grimly.

They continued walking in tense silence, every sound making the boys jump. Weasley hadn’t said a word all evening and Dante was glad. He really wasn’t up for his and Draco’s bickering or snide comments about Dante’s flying. He didn’t understand what Weasley’s problem was, it couldn’t be because his parents had taught him to hate Slytherins, because the twins seemed just fine with them.

His train of thought was interrupted by the sight of a glittering substance he caught out of the corner of his eye. Hagrid noticed it too and went to investigate, confirming Dante’s fears with one word.

“Blood.” He said shortly. “This poor beast is hurt badly, we don’t ‘ave much time. We’ll split up, so we can cover more ground.”

“What?!” Weasley spoke for the first time. “Hagrid, there’s a unicorn killing creature out there and you want us to split up?”

Dante couldn’t agree more, the fact that it was Weasley he agreed with only emphasised how serious the situation was in Dante’s mind. Hagrid didn’t seem to be listening, however.

“We can still save this one, but we’ll need to be quick. Ron, Dante, yer with me. Harry, Draco, take Fang an’ go the other way.”

“Hagrid, wouldn’t it make things more even if I went with them?” Dante asked.

Hagrid looked between the boys, before nodding. “Yes, alright, yeh go with them, if yeh run into any trouble, shoot up red sparks.”

Draco took the spare lantern from Weasley before they set off in the opposite directions. The soft glow of the lantern wasn’t doing much to light up their path. It was pitch black in the forest, the thick foliage only letting in tiny slivers of moonlight. Dante was tempted to cast Lumos, but he had a feeling he would need his wand for more serious spells.

“Look.” Draco broke the silence as he pointed to another pool of shimmery blood.

“It must be close.” Harry whispered back.

The small pool was the start of a trail of broken twigs and blood spatters. Dante tightened his hold on his wand, before following Harry and Draco while Fang brought up the rear. The more they followed the trail, the bigger the pools of blood became. Dante didn’t have much hope for the unicorn.

The boys wound their way through the trees and eventually came upon a clearing. Fang went to stand in front of them and growled. On the other side of the clearing was a cloaked figure hunched over the unicorn drinking its blood. The shadow looked up at their arrival, chin dripping with silver blood, and gave a nasty snarl. Beside him, Harry hissed in pain as he slapped a hand across his forehead. Dante could only stare with wide eyes as the creature pushed up from the unicorn and started to float towards them. 

Draco screamed in his ear and grabbed him and Harry by the back of their cloaks to pull them away from the floating creature. They tried to scramble back up the knotty roots at the edge of the clearing, but they had to dive to the ground as another creature jumped over them. Dante flipped over to watch as the other creature, a centaur, charged at the cloaked figure. This gave Dante enough time to gather his thoughts and remember Hagrid’s words.

“Periculum!” He shouted and red sparks emerged from his wand.

Thankfully, it seemed they wouldn’t need the groundskeeper’s help, because the shadow was quickly disappearing into the darkness of the forest.

The centaur turned back to them. “Harry Potter, you must leave. You are known to many creatures here. The forest is not safe at this time, especially for you.”

“What was that thing you saved us from?” Harry asked, sounding slightly out of breath.

“A monstrous creature,” the centaur said gravely, “it is a terrible crime to slay a unicorn. Drinking the blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death. But at a terrible price. For you have slain something so pure that from the moment the blood touches your lips, you will have a half-life, a cursed life.”

“Who would choose such a life?” Harry’s face was twisted into a confused frown.

“Can you think of no one?” The centaur looked at the boy grimly.

“Do you mean to say that was Voldemort?!”

Dante felt his blood run cold at the name. His father had always told him that it was foolish to believe the Dark Lord was dead, but Dante had always hoped he had been wrong. Another horrible realisation hit him, but he wasn’t the only one.

“The Dark Lord is after the Philosopher’s Stone.” Draco gasped.

“HARRY!” Hagrid roared from somewhere beyond the treeline.

“We are over here Hagrid!” Draco yelled back.

Hagrid came running into the clearing with his crossbow at the ready, Ron was trailing behind him looking as white as a sheet, but with a determined glint in his eye. The boy really was a Gryffindor through and through, something that usually annoyed Dante, but tonight he actually appreciated the boy’s bravery.

“Hello there, Firenze. I see yeh’ve met young Harry. Alright there boys?” Hagrid looked at them with worried eyes.

They all nodded at the groundskeeper, before Firenze spoke up again. “Harry Potter, this is where I leave you. You’re safe now, good luck.”

“Thank you, Firenze.” Hagrid said to the centaur before turning to them. “Let’s get yeh back to the castle.”

The centaur inclined his head towards the group before setting off into the darkness again. Hagrid made sure to walk behind them to protect them from any other threats, but they made it out of the forest without a problem. Their way up to the castle was spent in silence and Hagrid left them to walk back to the Slytherin common room themselves while he escorted Weasley back to his.

“Do you really think the Dark Lord is back?” Dante asked Harry.

Harry turned a grim look on him. “Yes, we need to see Snape.”

They quickly made their way down to the dungeons, where they hoped their Head of House was still awake. Luckily there was still light coming from under his door, so they didn’t hesitate to knock.

“Enter.” Snape commanded. “Mr. Potter, is there a reason why you are disturbing me at this late hour?”

“Yes sir, it’s about our detention in the forest.” Harry began.

Snape’s frown told Dante how he felt about that particular form of detention and Dante couldn’t agree more. He’d rather scrub cauldrons for a week before repeating their little adventure in the Forbidden Forest.

“If you are here to complain about your punishment, save your breath. Professor McGonagall had every right to punish you after such a foolish act. Something, if I remember correctly, I told you not to engage in anymore.” Snape cut in pointedly.

“It’s not that sir.” Harry tried again.

“Then what could possibly warrant your visit tonight, Mr Potter?” Professor Snape asked impatiently.

“We were attacked, sir.” Harry finally managed to say.

The change in the man’s demeanor was immediate. His annoyed frown morphed into a concerned one as he quickly scanned them for any signs of injury.

“Is everyone unharmed?”

“Everyone’s fine sir, but-“ Harry tried again, but was this time he was interrupted by Draco.

“Well, I do have a bruise forming on my back.” Draco complained.

“It was Voldemort, sir!” Harry glared at Draco for the interruption, before fixing his gaze back on the potion’s master.

Dante and Draco winced, while their professor blanched a little at the name. From the corner of his eye, Dante could see Harry roll his eyes at their reaction.

“Are you sure?” Snape asked urgently.

“Not entirely, but Firenze, the centaur, told us and I’m inclined to believe him.” Harry told him.

Snape nodded thoughtfully. “I will inform the Headmaster of your suspicions and I will try to get to the bottom of this. For now, it is prudent for you three to get back to your dormitory before you are caught after curfew again.”

Dante wasn’t sure if he’d be able to sleep after this adrenaline-inducing night, but followed his dormmates without complaining.

After a restless night, Dante sat down at the Slytherin table for breakfast feeling completely exhausted. The sleepless night had, however, given him time to think about last night’s events and it had led him to an important conclusion.

“Quirrell is trying to steal the stone for the Dark Lord.” Dante told his friends once they had left the vast crowds of the Great Hall behind.

They had caught Hermione up on what had happened the night before in the forest. The news had quieted the usually talkative girl.

“How would he even have come across him?” Draco asked.

“I’m not sure, but it makes sense. The stone could bring back the Dark Lord to his previous form, maybe he promised Quirrell something in return, like power, riches, or that he would get rid of that vampire that’s been haunting him.” Dante shrugged.

The others nodded thoughtfully before Hermione spoke up. “It also explains why Quirrell hasn’t made a move to get the stone yet.”

The boys looked at her with matching confused frowns, which made her sigh in exasperation.

“Who is the one wizard that the Dark Lord always feared?” She asked them slowly as if she was talking to toddlers.

“Dumbledore.” Draco said quietly.

“Exactly, as long as Dumbledore is here, he won’t make a move and the stone will be safe.” Hermione said with a self-satisfied smirk.

“That may be so, but we should still keep an eye out for him if he loses his patience and tries anyway.” Harry told them.

***

After that, the weeks seemed to fly by, as their professors decided to pick up the pace again with their assigned work after the winter break. Checking on Quirrell was also a time-consuming practice as the man was more cautious with his snooping around the third-floor corridor. Dante figured it had something to do with their talk with Professor Snape. The man must be keeping an eye out for suspicious behaviour, making Quirrell nervous.

It was a busy schedule to get used to, but Dante couldn’t let his schoolwork suffer. His father had sent him increasingly displeased letters about his recent behaviour and made it quite clear what the consequences would be if he so much as put a toe out of line again. That’s why he was up at 6 am on a Saturday perfecting his Transfiguration essay. He was still checking it over when Draco practically dragged him to breakfast.

“Why are you worrying so much, you’re probably near the top of the class in everything.” Draco tried to reason, but Dante just shrugged.

He knew Draco couldn’t understand what his father was like. Draco might have a strict father himself, but it was nothing compared to his own.

“You’re joining the rest of us to watch Harry thoroughly beat the Ravenclaws today, no buts.” Draco said imperiously.

He threw Harry a glare as the boy snorted into his oatmeal. “Fine, but only because Harry has a tendency to almost get himself killed and I don’t want his death on my conscience.”

“Hey!” Harry said indignantly.

“Stop whining and eat your food, Harry, we’ve got to go.” Draco told him.

“You’re such a mother hen, Draco.” Dante laughed as he got up to follow Harry outside.

It was a very windy and grey day for quidditch and Dante felt bad for the players having to zip around in the drizzle. He kind of wished he had stayed inside the castle after all, but he was firmly planted between Draco and Blaise, who were not about to let him escape. It was nice of them to care about his mental well-being if a bit annoying.

“And they’re off, Ravenclaw in possession.” Lee Jordan kicked off the commentary. “Both teams need to win today to secure the top spot. In these dreary conditions, it’s going to be a hard-fought match.”

Dante never really cared much for quidditch. He wanted his house to win of course, but other than that he couldn’t care less. The flying was the main reason for that, he supposed, though, he could see why people liked it so much, the danger and skill that went into it could be quite exhilarating to watch.

“Flint loses the quaffle to Davies and passes it to Stretton, making for the goal… and scores!” Jordan cheered. “Ravenclaw 10, Slytherin 0.”

The other houses, unsurprisingly, supported Ravenclaw as they burst into cheers alongside the blue-clad audience. He didn’t let it bother him, instead it just fueled his desire for Slytherin to win.

The game was action-packed as the teams were very evenly matched, leaving the score at 70 to 50 in favour of the Ravenclaws. That’s when Cho, the Ravenclaw seeker, shot off after the snitch, Harry hot on her heels.

“Cho’s in front, but is rapidly being overtaken by Potter’s superior broom.” Jordan said excitedly.

Dante stood up and cheered Harry on with the rest of the Slytherins. The snitch was only just snatched up by Harry. The other seeker cursed, while the Slytherin crowd was ecstatic.

“Slytherin wins with 200 to 70!”

Rushing down with the excited crowd, Dante made his way over to Harry to congratulate him on another game well-played. Most of the older Slytherins left the celebrations on the pitch quickly to prepare another party in the common room and Dante was looking forward to it. The last one he had spent with Pansy and Daphne who insisted on teaching him how to dance ‘properly’. He had only ever been taught ballroom dancing, so it had been quite the experience.

He was walking back up to the castle with said girls when an elegant swirl of robes came up beside him.

“I suppose congratulations are in order, young Harry is quite quick.” Dorian said with his usual haughty tone.

“Honestly, you sound like Dumbledore when you talk like that, besides, aren’t you only a few months older than Harry?” Dante teased the boy, who huffed in return

“Do not compare me to that man, however wise and powerful he may be, I would never wear robes like that or let my hair get that ridiculously out of control.” Dorian shuddered, making Dante laugh.

“If you do not mind, Professor Ajay-dore, I would like to rejoin my friends, so that we can go dance to the dulcet tones of the Weird Sisters.” Dante gave him a mock bow as he tried to hide his grin.

To his credit, Dorian went along as he stroked an imaginary beard and forced as much twinkle into his eyes before he responded. “Very well, my boy,” he wheezed, “don’t overindulge in lemon drops and butterbeer.”

Dante waved goodbye as they went their separate ways. He was still chuckling to himself when he entered the packed common room.

“Where have you been, Emhrys?” Draco questioned him immediately.

“He was with his boyfriend.” Pansy smirked at Dante.

“Who?” Harry cut in.

“Honestly, Potter, sometimes I wonder if those glasses are even working.” Draco rolled his eyes.

Dante ignored them all and turned to Harry. “Dorian says congratulations on the win and that you’re a fast flier.”

Harry smiled slightly at the compliment before the others lost their patience and dragged them to the dance floor.


	8. Harry Worries About Hogwarts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a bit of a shorter chapter, sorry in advance, but I hope you enjoy it! We're coming really close to the end of the story and I'm very excited!

Exams were approaching fast and Harry was struggling. He was drowning in homework, training almost every day, and then there was also the whole Quirrell issue. They had decided that they wouldn’t bother any of the professors about their suspicions as they had already informed them of everything they knew. It was hard to keep track of everything and it was overwhelming him. Harry really hoped Professor Dumbledore would believe them about their suspicions and either take the Stone away from Hogwarts or, even better, destroy it.

Another thing that was making it increasingly hard for Harry, was the constant headaches he got from Defense class. At first, he believed it was the strong garlic smell, but now he thought it might be something else. It felt ominous as if his subconscious was trying to warn him. Harry tried to catch up on the things he missed during class, which made his workload even more insurmountable. The stress of exams had also made it near impossible to be around Hermione or Dante, who were constantly in the library with Theo, Tracey, and Dorian. Harry envied their ability to stay focussed for so long, he and the other Slytherins usually gave up after two hours.

“We still need to get back at Weasley for ratting us out to McGonagall.” Draco said with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Hermione had snapped and banned them from the library after a paper plane had landed in her hair. So, now they were pretending to study in the common room. Although judging by Draco’s comment, Harry was the only one still keeping up the charade. Pansy, who had been the first one to give up, lit up at the mention of revenge, and even Millicent cracked a smile as she flipped through her copy of Seeker Weekly.

“Oooh, yes, what were you planning little dragon?” Pansy asked eagerly.

“I told you not to call me that!” Draco scowled at her.

“We could shrink all his clothes down, maybe color his hair bright pink.” Blaise offered with a smirk, ignoring Draco’s outburst.

Harry chuckled at the thought, but didn’t offer any of his own ideas. Weasley had served detention with them, so Harry didn’t really mind if they got their revenge or not. He was far too busy with his Charms essay about mending charms and their uses. Besides, the boy had seemed genuinely concerned about them when Voldemort had attacked.

“We need Weasley to know it was us, but not be able to actually get us in trouble.” Draco said thoughtfully.

“Challenge him to a duel.” Millicent shrugged, still absorbed by her magazine.

“Not quite the subtlety we’re going for here, Bulstrode.” Draco waved a dismissive hand at the girl.

Millicent looked up to scowl at him. “You challenge weasel to a duel at midnight, you don’t show up and he gets caught after curfew.”

Draco stared at her with wide eyes. “Oh, well, yes… that’s a great idea actually.”

Harry snorted at his stammering and saw a tiny smirk from Millicent as she went back to mindlessly flipping through her magazine. Shaking his head at their antics, Harry returned his attention to his essay, but was interrupted again by Draco clearing his throat.

“What?” He asked with a roll of his eyes

“Obviously you’re going with me to mess with the Weasel.” Draco looked at him haughtily as if Harry had no other choice.

“Nope, you’re on your own, I’m way too far behind on… everything really to feed your vendettas, Malfoy. I’m sure Blaise or Pansy would love to join you.” Harry waved a hand between the pair.

“Yeah, no, I’m meeting up with a second-year Ravenclaw later, I don’t have time for dear Draco’s plans.” Blaise smirked at the boy in question.

Draco looked offended by their lack of enthusiasm and turned to Pansy for support, who, unsurprisingly, gave him a wicked grin.

“Sure, anything to wipe that smug look of Weasley’s face.” She said with a sharp smile.

Draco gave her an approving nod while purposefully ignoring Blaise and Harry. They linked arms and silently planned the rest of their prank. It gave Harry ample opportunity to finish his Charms essay in peace while also getting started on his History reading. He was having a hard time remembering all the goblin uprisings and clan names, there were just so many. It wasn’t the first time this year that Harry cursed Professor Binns’ boring monotone and his tendency to fall asleep listening to it. He would try to do better next year.

“You look like you’re sucking on a lemon drop there, Harry.” Dante cut through his thoughts as he walked up to their place in front of the fireplace.

Harry sighed before putting his book away. “History of Magic will do that to you.”

“You can borrow my notes if you want.” The other boy shrugged.

Harry nodded his head eagerly, the less of the boring book he’d have to wade through the better. Besides, Dante’s notes were always extensive and well-organised which would save him a lot of time studying. His friend just gave him a dimpled smile and waved his wand over the papers, duplicating them.

“You have got to teach me how to do that.” Harry said as he took the notes.

“I can’t go around sharing all of my secrets, now can I? You’ll grow bored of me.” Dante said with a smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Before Harry could respond, they were interrupted by the loud cackling of Pansy as she and Draco entered the common room. It seemed like the prank went well, making Harry grin a little.

***

“Mr P-P-Potter, could you t-tell me the b-b-best defense for g-gytrashes?” Professor Quirrell asked.

The question startled Harry from the daze of a growing migraine. It hadn’t been this bad before and he had half a mind to go to the Hospital Wing for something to soothe it. That was a concern for later, however, as he focussed on the stuttering man in front of him, digging deep inside his mind for the answer. Exams were a week away, so every class was spent revising. Harry didn’t mind in most classes, since it really helped to go through some of the stuff from earlier that year even if it was kind of boring.

“Er, they are averse to light, so a Lumos charm would do the trick?” Harry wasn’t completely sure of the answer, but Quirrell giggled nervously while his head bobbed an affirmative.

He tuned out the class again since the chances were low that he would be asked another question. Unconsciously, his hand went to his scar and rubbed it. They’ve been trying to find a reason for his chronic headaches, but had come up empty. Apparently, curse scars weren’t known to hurt after the damage had initially been done. His scar was, of course, also technically not possible, so that didn’t tell him much. The investigation into Quirrell hadn’t been going well either. The man was on his best behaviour and hadn’t had any slip-ups. It was frustrating beyond belief.

The rest of the week was just as uneventful, the only highlight being the Slytherin-Hufflepuff match. They needed to win with a 50 point gap to win the cup, which was quickly resolved by Harry as he caught the snitch within the first fifteen minutes of the match. The final score was 180-20. The party that followed was the biggest yet with even Snape coming in to congratulate them. After that, they were tossed into their exam week. Harry was pretty sure most of his exams went fine, although History of Magic and Herbology were by far the hardest. History of Magic due to his lack of interest, while Herbology just reminded him too much of working in the Dursleys’ garden without reprieve from the hot sun. It left him with no fondness for the subject.

The bell rang to signal the end of the last final, so all the first years excitedly made their way to their usual places in the Great Hall. Harry had almost been too caught up in his relief to notice something was off at the teacher’s table. Professor Dumbledore wasn’t there. Harry immediately whirled around to his friends, who were looking up at the teacher’s table equally worried faces.

“Where is that old coot gone to.” Draco hissed to them.

Hermione looked torn between concern about the situation and offended at Draco’s words. “He might just be late.”

The four of them went to their seats and watched the dais with increasing concern. Dumbledore had been gone throughout the meal. Hermione had looked like she wanted to get up from her table to ask one of the professors, but Harry had given her a stern look. It wouldn’t do well to draw unwanted attention to them, so Harry was relieved when Hermione sat back down again.

After what felt like an eternity, dinner was over and the four of them tried to catch Professor Snape in the hall, making sure no one paid them any mind.

“What can I help you four with?” Snape asked with a suspicious glint in his eyes.

“We were just wondering where Professor Dumbledore was.” Draco tried to sound casual, but it didn’t fool the professor.

“Professor Dumbledore is away on business,” Snape said his tone hardening as he went on, “but I can assure you things are in hand, so whatever foolish thoughts have formed in your collective minds are unnecessary.”

“But sir-“ Harry tried.

“No, Mr Potter, this matter is not up for discussion, now go play some Exploding Snap or whatever young people do these days before I decide deduction of points are in order.” Snape’s voice was dangerously low now.

He heard Hermione gulp at the threat of point loss, so he decided not to push the issue. They’d have to figure out some other way to stop Quirrell then.

“We need a plan.” Harry said as soon as they were out of Snape’s earshot.

“You heard Snape, he’s got it handled.” Hermione said half-heartedly.

“Do you really believe that?” Draco asked with a doubtful look on his face.

It took Hermione a minute to contemplate his words. “Fine, how are we going to do this?”

“I’m sure Quirrell will strike tonight after everyone’s gone to bed. We’ll take the cloak, go to the third floor, and hope for the best.” Harry told them.

He wasn’t sure if all four of them would fit under the cloak, but they would try to figure something out. He had a feeling a lot of the evening would be spent improvising.

The others nodded grimly and they split off to their respective common rooms. Nerves were bundling up in his stomach at the thought of facing Fluffy and whatever other obstacles the professors had set up.

The boys spent a tense few hours pretending to play Exploding Snap as the last few students left the common room. Harry got up and marched to the exit with his friends in tow. The way over to the Gryffindor Tower was quiet and, thankfully, Filch-free. When they came up to the portrait of the Fat Lady, Hermione was nowhere to be seen. They spent a few restless minutes waiting for her, and Harry had half a mind to go in and drag her out himself. That’s when they heard arguing coming from behind the portrait. They quickly backed up, before the hidden door swung open revealing a very annoyed Hermione.

“Are you off to see your little snake friends?” Weasley spat the words from behind Hermione.

“I’ve told you a million times, Weasley, it’s none of your business.” Hermione scowled at the redhead.

“It’s bad enough that you and Longbottom are house traitors, but sneaking out and losing points is not something I’ll let you do.” Weasley was turning nearly the shade of his hair in his indignation.

“I’ve warned you,” Hermione said simply and turned around to face her housemate, “Petrificus Totalus.”

Ron stiffened and fell back into the little corridor leading to the portrait which Hermione swung shut without looking back.

“Granger, you really scare me sometimes.” Draco said.

Hermione just grinned wickedly and got under the cloak when the boys slipped it open. They barely fit under it, but they made due. They were all too focussed to let the tripping bother them. After a few minutes and way too many stairs, they shuffled up to the third-floor door. Harry put his head against the door to listen for Fluffy’s growling, but he could only hear the soft tinkling from a harp.

“Shit! Quirrell’s already inside.” Harry cursed.

He unlocked the door to find the giant sleeping form of Fluffy snoring away to the soft melody. Fluffy’s paw was firmly placed on top of the trapdoor, Harry noticed to his dismay.

“How are we going to get past his paw?” Harry whispered.

The answer came in the form of Dante, who just walked to the dog and started pushing the paw out of the way. Hermione followed suit, grunting with effort. Harry shrugged at Draco and went to help. The dog seemed to be sleeping sound enough.

Harry was sweating by the time they finally got the thing to move from the trapdoor. Smiling victoriously at his friends, he suddenly felt something wet and slimy droop on his shoulder. Three sets of amber eyes were glaring down at him.

“GO!” He screamed as he yanked open the trapdoor and dropped down without thinking.

He landed on an uneven surface. The others quickly followed and the trapdoor fell shut behind them, leaving them in a pitch-black room. Feeling around for an explanation as to what was beneath them, Harry felt something wind around his legs.

“What the-“ Harry started.

“Something’s moving!” Draco yelled in panic.

More and more things twined their way over Harry’s body. The more he struggled the more he got stuck. He was trying hard to tamp down his growing panic, but as the rope-like things twined around his throat, he felt close to losing his calm. He really didn’t feel like dying in a dark pit like this.


	9. Dante Has an Eventful Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh the second to last chapter guys, I'm so excited! I hope you've been enjoying my take on this book and I hope there's enough interest in the rest of the series, so I can start working on that. I've got a few ideas for the next books and I've started outlining the second book, but I'll have to see if there's an actual demand for it. Anyway, thank you so much for sticking with it!

It was getting harder to think as panic rose in Dante’s chest. Struggling against his binds only made them tighten and multiply, so he tried to keep still as best he could. He tried to run through a list of who could have set this obstacle. Transfiguration, Herbology, Charms, they were all possibilities. That didn’t narrow it down at all, so he tried to look around for clues. This was also hopeless since it was pitch-black. Then it hit him.

“It’s Devil’s Snare!” He called out triumphantly.

“Thank fuck we know its name, now we can get properly acquainted before it kills us!” Draco choked out.

Instead of arguing with Draco, Dante wriggled his wand free from his robes. “Lumos Solem!”

A bright light came from his wand and the twines immediately retracted from his body. The plant dropped them all through to the room underneath it, trying very hard to get away from the brightness.

“Nox.” Dante said almost apologetic to the plant.

Draco was rubbing his neck as he coughed, but gave him a watery smile. “Okay, I’ll give you that one.” He wheezed.

“Thanks.” Dante said drily.

They continued on their way through a door that led them into another room. This one, thankfully, wasn’t as dark as the one before. Above them, there was a swarm of something Dante couldn’t quite make out.

“What are those? Birds? Bats?” He squinted up at the ceiling.

Hermione pushed past him to get to the door on the other side of the room. Draco followed her while the other two boys continued to stare at the flying objects.

“Alohomora.” She said, but it wouldn’t budge.

“It must be locked with something more powerful than just a bolt, we need the key.” Draco told them.

“I think we’re going to find the key up there with this.” Harry said, indicating the broom next to him.

Dante was very glad he was friends with a seeker just then, this room was going to be easy. They all went over to the door to check what kind of key Harry needed to be on the lookout for.

“The lock looks very old, so look for a big, old-fashioned key.” Hermione said as she frowned at the door.

“Up you go, little seeker.” Dante grinned at his friend.

The second Harry grabbed the broom, the flying keys decided to kick it up a notch. The swarm started to gain speed and flew in elaborate patterns, while small clusters broke off from the pack to pelt Harry. Luckily, Harry saw them coming and swerved out of the way easily. He kept dodging the keys as he looked for one that would fit. After a few more dodges, Harry went in pursuit of a particular key, the chase complicated by a growing amount of keys that darted at his face.

“Come on, Harry, you’ve nearly got it!” Hermione yelled in encouragement.

Just as the words left her mouth, Harry’s fist closed around the key. He dove down back to the ground as the whole swarm followed.

“CATCH THE KEY!” Harry yelled at them.

Draco caught it deftly and wasted no time shoving it in the lock. The door swung open to reveal yet another dark room, but Dante’s attention was elsewhere. The keys seemed to have become properly angry now as they swarmed after Harry, who was only barely ahead of them. He dove down towards the door, making Draco and Dante leap out of the way to clear a path. The moment he flew through, Hermione shut the door and dozens of keys hit it with a dull thump. Dante let out the breath he hadn’t realised he was holding.

Now that that crisis was dealt with, he turned to survey his surroundings. It was larger than the last two rooms with rubble spread all around it. In the middle, there was a platform with large statues set atop it.

“It’s a chessboard.” Draco declared.

Torches flared to life as he approached the board, revealing what was indeed a chessboard. The panic from before was slowly coming back to Dante as he looked at the giant pieces. If he knew anything about wizard’s chess, it was that it was going to be very violent

“So, we have to win to get through?” Hermione asked.

Harry experimentally walked over to the other side of the board. At his approach, the pawns pulled out their swords and blocked the way.

“I would say so, Hermione.” Harry told her.

“Well, Draco, I guess this is your room.” Dante told the blonde.

The boy smirked at him, but it lacked its usual confidence. “Harry you take the rook’s place, Dante you’ll be a bishop, and Hermione you’ll be a knight. I think I’ll be the king.”

Dante rolled his eyes at Draco, but followed his directions anyway. The pieces in question moved off the board to make room for them. Draco didn’t notice, because he was looking at the board with calculating eyes. The first pawn moved and the game was off. When the first pawn was taken, they realised just how serious this game was. It was struck down viciously by the two swords that emerged from beneath the pawn’s shield.

“Oh fuck.” Harry breathed, his face pale.

“Draco…” Hermione said urgently, her eyes wide as saucers.

“I know, I know, let me think.” Draco waved off their concern, a pinched look taking over his face.

Dante’s nerves soared to new heights for the continuation of the game. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Draco’s abilities, he’d seen the boy destroy sixth-years at the game, but it was all a bit more concerning when it was himself on the board instead of tiny stone pieces. Slowly, the board emptied and things were turning in their favour. He wondered if Quirrell had gotten through by winning or if the man got by another way.

“Dante, move to E4 to take their knight.” Draco’s decisive tone broke through his wandering thoughts.

“Are you sure?” Dante eyed the knight where it stood surrounded by other white pieces, he really didn’t feel safe there.

“Yes, I promise, now move.” Draco ordered him.

Moving over warily, Dante pushed the knight a bit, so the figure would move.

“That’s check.” Draco declared gleefully.

The white king moved a space to the right, but Draco had foreseen that move. He ordered a pawn to go within striking distance, making the king move another square. But to no avail, he was surrounded by black pieces.

“Checkmate.” Draco smiled smugly.

The king bowed low and his crown fell off. All the remaining pieces moved off the board to make way for them. They cautiously moved forward, but quickened their pace when it didn’t seem like the other pieces were going to stop them.

Dante put his hand on the knob of the next door. “Please let it be less life-threatening, please.” He whispered mostly to himself.

He wasn’t completely wrong. The next room was smaller than the last one and smelled terrible. The reason for this smell laid unconscious and bound on the far end of the room. A big, nasty-looking troll had been this room’s obstacle, but Quirrell had done them a favour by already incapacitating it.

“It seems Quirrell isn’t as useless as he appears.” Harry grumbled.

They briskly walked to the next door, not wanting to disturb the troll or to be in the smell any longer. As soon as they entered the next obstacle room, the door shut behind them and purple flames engulfed it. On the other side of the room, the door was in a similar state, but this one was burning with black flames. In the middle of the room was a table with seven different coloured bottles, before them lay a piece of paper. It read:

_“Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,_  
_Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,_  
_One among us seven will let you move ahead,_  
_Another will transport the drinker back instead,_  
_Two among our number hold only nettle wine,_  
_Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line._  
_Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,_  
_To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:_  
_First, however slyly the poison tries to hide_  
_You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;_  
_Second, different are those who stand at either end,_  
_But if you would move onwards neither is your friend;_  
_Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,_  
_Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;_  
_Fourth, the second left and the second on the right_  
_Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.”_

“I think I understand.” Hermione said, a thoughtful frown firmly etched in her forehead. “Seven bottles: three are poisons; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire and one will get us back through the purple.”

“Yeah alright, but which is which?” Draco asked impatiently.

Dante and Harry both elbowed the other boy. They couldn’t rush this or they might end up drinking poison. Hermione hadn’t noticed the blonde’s outburst, however, because she was still peering down at the paper with utter concentration.

“Yes, that’s it!” Hermione whooped after a few minutes. “The purple one is to go back, and the blue one is to move on.”

“We can’t possibly all drink from the blue bottle.” Dante cut in.

“I’ll take it, you drink the purple one to get a letter to Dumbledore and find Snape. I’ll distract Quirrell.” Harry said with a hard glint in his eye.

“You can’t be serious, what if the Dark Lord is with him?” Draco looked at Harry incredulously.

“I beat him once right? Who says I won’t do it again.” Harry tried to feign confidence, but Dante heard the tremble in his voice.

“I swear your hero complex goes to your head sometimes, we’re in this together, you git.” Draco said fiercely.

“Harry is right Draco, if anyone stands a chance against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named it’s Harry and we’re losing precious time arguing about it.” Hermione told him.

Dante looked between his friends. Draco and Hermione were glaring at each other, while Harry’s gaze was intently on the black flames. They couldn’t wait any longer.

“Draco we need to go, the longer we wait, the bigger the chances that Quirrell has the Stone and then everything is lost, so stop arguing.” Dante really didn’t like talking to him this way, but it needed to be done.

Draco looked about ready to hit him, but then deflated. “Fine, but we’re coming back as soon as we’ve alerted Snape.”

Dante nodded in agreement and watched as Hermione grabbed the purple bottle. She took a gulp and gave a violent shiver.

“Are you alright?” Dante asked as he tried to remember every way to combat poison.

“Yeah, just cold.” Hermione said with a grimace.

She didn’t pause before going back through the purple flames. Thankfully, she made it through without catching herself on fire, so Draco went second, and Dante followed. Before he went out, however, he gave Harry’s shoulder a quick squeeze. Harry gave him a tight smile in return.

“Let’s go.” Dante told the other two when he joined them beyond the fire.

They ran through the troll room quickly, not slowing down to see if the troll was still unconscious. The next room had them back on the chessboard, but, fortunately, they didn’t have to play another game to get through. Dante skidded to a halt to pick up the broom Harry had left behind after getting the key. Sadly, it had lost all its flying ability. Dante figured it was to prevent any cheating by flying over the chess pieces.

“Fucking brooms, the one time I want it to fly.” Dante grumbled angrily.

He pushed away his hatred of them in favour of following his friends into the next room. Contrary to what he had expected, the keys hadn’t gone back to their placid flapping around the ceiling. They were still swarming furiously, whether it was due to the broom not having been returned or some of the keys laying broken on the ground, Dante didn’t know or care.

“RUN!” Draco roared over the buzzing of wings.

The nasty little keys were relentless, cutting through Dante’s sweater and slicing open any exposed skin. They were all panting when they got to the other end of the room and shut the door firmly.

Without pausing they all pulled out their wands and yelled in unison. “Lumos Solem!”

The Devil’s Snare moved out of the way again, but this left them with another problem. They needed to get back up to the trapdoor, which was a good five meters above them. Not to mention the fact that Fluffy was still on the other side of that door. Hermione didn’t seem to have such qualms, because she immediately started climbing up the thick vines of the Devil’s Snare.

“Come on, I can’t reach the trapdoor on my own.” She huffed at them.

The boys shrugged at one another, apparently their strategy was one problem at a time. It took them a lot of effort and switching between light and dark to get good footholds. Eventually, Hermione managed to reach the door by standing on Dante’s shoulders while he was trying to balance on a particular thick vine with Draco steadying him.

“It’s opening, but I can’t hear any music, what are we going to do?” Hermione questioned.

“Can you charm Quirrell’s harp to start playing again?” Draco replied.

It took a few tries to get the harp to play a basic lullaby for the giant dog. It took even more effort to get all of them through the trapdoor, but after Dante pushed Hermione and Draco out, they were able to pull him up. That Dante was exhausted now was an understatement. He couldn’t dwell on that thought long though, because they took off at a sprint again.

“Hermione, you go to the owlery to send off a letter to Dumbledore, we’ll go run to find Snape.” Draco panted as they ran.

The only response was Hermione’s minute nod as they split off to their respective tasks. After a few stairs, they finally reached Snape’s quarters and pressed the call stone. Dante was a little worried the man would ignore them this late, or sleep through it. Luckily, he was wrong on both accounts and they were instead met with a very tired, very annoyed Potion’s Master. His demeanor changed immediately when he saw their undoubtedly battered forms.

“What happened?” He asked urgently.

“Harry… with Quirrell… need to save him.” Dante gasped.

“What,” Snape’s voice was low and dangerous, “never mind, there’s no time to reflect on your stupidity, go to the hospital wing and get patched up, but first send an owl to the Headmaster. I’ll go after Mr Potter.”

“We’re not going to the hospital wing, I promised Harry we’d be back!” Draco yelled at the man.

“You will do no such thing, I am not above putting you in a full-body bind, Mr Malfoy. Quirrell isn’t as much of an idiot as he let on, even if he was there’s still the small matter of the Dark Lord who he is trying to resurrect.” Snape told him sternly.

“I’ll make sure he gets to Madam Pomfrey, sir, please save Harry.” Dante cut in before Draco could protest any more.

Snape gave them a jerky nod as he brushed past them. Draco made to follow, but Dante stopped him.

“I promised him, Dante.” Draco begged him.

“I know, I did too, but what are we going to do against Quirrell or even the Dark Lord, we’d only be a liability and Harry doesn’t need that right now. He needs a furious, fully focussed Snape.” Dante tried to reason with the boy.

Draco slumped against the door in defeat and Dante had half a mind to join him. He could feel the adrenaline seep out of him, but he refused to let himself rest. Pulling Draco back to his feet, he began leading the other boy away from the dungeons.

“You heard Snape, we’re to go to the infirmary and wait for Harry.”

“Fine.” Draco sighed.

On their way to the Hospital Wing, they came across Hermione, who was on her way to the dungeons. They explained what Snape had told them and followed after only a moment of hesitation. Their trek through the castle was a lot slower than their rush from before as exhaustion and worry pulled at all of them. The infirmary was empty of students, which was a relief. Dante really wasn’t feeling up for prying eyes and invasive questions. Draco knocked on the door of what Dante assumed were the mediwitch’s quarters. Madam Pomfrey came out looking more alert than Dante had ever been if he’d been awoken in the middle of the night.

“Oh, poor dears, whatever happened to you?” Pomfrey tutted at them.

Her worried frown only deepened as they told the whole story.

“Alright, you go ahead and pick a bed, I’ll be right back after I’ve warned the other teachers.” The mediwitch said quickly.

She left while muttering about Slytherins being just as bad as Gryffindors, it almost made Dante laugh. His worry quickly squashed that urge, however, and he numbly sat down on the bed next to Draco’s. After about fifteen minutes Madam Pomfrey returned and began her fussing.

She healed cuts, bruises, and even a sprained wrist Dante hadn’t noticed he had. Adrenaline must have numbed the pain. After everyone was healed up Pomfrey forced them to drink calming draught. The potion took hold quickly, but Dante fought the effects. He knew that if he gave in to the calm, it would result in him giving in to his exhaustion too, but it was useless to fight it. His eyelids drooped until he couldn’t keep them open anymore. Darkness consumed him quickly after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Harry's perspective of the night.


	10. Harry Saves the Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here! Yes everyone, it's the final chapter and I'm very excited about it! I hope everyone has enjoyed the journey so far and if you did please leave a comment or some kudos. It's been a lot of fun writing and I hope it's been a lot of fun reading too! I'll stop talking now and let you get into the last chapter :)

Harry looked longingly at the purple flames his friends had just disappeared through, before turning back to the table with potions. He grabbed the little blue bottle and drained it with one big gulp. It felt like ice was spreading over his skin, which he thought was a good thing. The strange feeling made him wonder how the potion worked, but he shook off the thought. It was best not to get distracted at the moment. Making his way over to the door, he reached through the flames for the doorknob, before quickly pushing through to the other side. The flames licked at his skin, but he didn’t feel anything.

The door opened up to a stairwell that went even further down into the castle. At the bottom of the stairs was another door, which Harry truly hoped was the last one, because he wasn’t sure if he could get past another obstacle alone. Quietly, he descended the steps and tried to open the door with minimal creaking. The room beyond it was much brighter than the previous ones. Quirrell was standing in the middle of the room in front of a mirror which Harry recognised as the Mirror of Erised. The second Harry focused on Quirrell, his scar flared up in pain. He tried to ignore it in favour of coming up with a plan to distract the man from getting the Stone.

“I’ve heard it’s quite dangerous to dwell on what it shows you.” Harry quipped.

His presence didn’t seem to surprise his professor, because he calmly turned to face Harry. The pain in Harry’s head turned to a dull throb that was usually present with the professor in the room. Quirrell had a frustrated frown painted across his face.

“Potter, I was wondering if you’d be showing up tonight.” Quirrell didn’t seem too concerned with it, however.

“Couldn’t make it too easy on you, now could I.” Harry shrugged with a calm he didn’t feel.

“Yes, your deduction skills have been rather impressive, I would give you house points if it wasn’t so terribly annoying.” Quirrell sneered at him.

“Can’t say you’ve made it very hard for us.” Harry shot back.

He wondered if Quirrell noticed he was stalling. The man seemed very preoccupied with the mirror, however, so that might be working in his favour. Maybe he could distract him long enough for the cavalry to arrive. He just hoped his friends could get out unscathed, it was quite a long way back not to mention the obstacles they’d have to go through again.

“Yet, you didn’t have the forethought to bring anyone other than yourself.” Quirrell taunted.

“Don’t worry, they’re on their way, I’m pretty sure Professor Snape would love an excuse to take you down.” Harry didn’t need to fake confidence in that statement, Professor Snape hated the man.

Quirrell just scoffed at him. “Snape won’t be a match for the Dark Lord.”

“Speaking of Voldemort, where is he? I thought he’d be here by now.” Harry felt a sliver of satisfaction at Quirrell’s reaction.

“Don’t you dare use his name, you little brat!” Quirrell’s face twisted in fury.

“What name? Voldemort?”

Harry knew he had pushed his luck when he was knocked off his feet and struck with a silencing charm. He hit the floor with a painful thud and it took him a while to sit back up. Quirrell had turned back to the mirror and was muttering to himself.

“How does it work. I see what I desire. I see myself holding the stone, but how do I get it?” Quirrell snarled in frustration.

With Quirrell’s attention elsewhere, Harry got up and silently tried to get behind the man. If he could get in range of the mirror, maybe he could get the stone for himself. His efforts were halted when a cold voice broke the silence.

“Use the boy…” The voice whispered.

“Come here, Potter! Now!” Quirrell ordered him, before reversing the silencing charm.

When Harry showed no intention to move, Quirrell came over to grab him by the back of his robes and shoved him in front of the mirror.

“Now… look in the mirror and tell me what you see.”

Harry reluctantly raised his eyes to the mirror. This time, instead of seeing his parents, he was alone in the room. His reflection stared at him, before smirking as he reached into his pocket. Harry’s eyes tracked the motion and watched as his mirror-self pulled out a smooth ruby red stone. Harry tried very hard not to let his emotions show on his face as he watched his reflection examine the stone, then wink at him, before dropping the Stone back in his pocket. A weight settled in his pocket which almost caused Harry to gasp, but he managed to choke it down.

“Well.” Quirrell urged him impatiently.

“I- I see myself, but oh,” Harry tried to put as much wonder into his voice as he could, “there are my parents, they’re smiling at me.”

He felt terrible for using them as an excuse, but it was the only believable thing he could think of.

“He lies…” The same mysterious voice hissed again.

“Tell the truth! What do you see?!” Quirrell roared.

“Let me speak to him.” The voice told the man.

Quirrell fiddled with his hands. “Master, you are not strong enough.”

“I have strength enough for this.” 

The burning sensation in Harry’s scar had increased again. The voice couldn’t be anything good and he had a feeling he knew exactly who it belonged to. Quirrell began to unwind his turban from his head, revealing a terrible sight.

It was Voldemort, loud and clear. His red eyes glowering down at him, making a white-hot pain travel through his skull.

“Harry Potter… Look what I’ve become. Having to live off unicorn blood, not strong enough to get my own body. Forced to live as a parasite… But not for long, the Stone will give me the power to create my own body. The stone that has conveniently found its way into your pocket.”

Harry whirled around, trying to rush back up the stairs. He couldn’t let them get the Stone, he would rather die.

“STOP HIM!” Voldemort commanded Quirrell.

Flames roared to life to block the exit. Harry contemplated how much damage they would do if he just jumped through them, but banished the idea as the flames grew higher.

“Don’t be a fool.” The voice hissed again. “Why throw away the life your mother tried so hard to protect… Join me and live.”

“NEVER!” Harry screamed.

“So brave, just like your parents, give me the Stone and we can bring them back… together.”

The words gave him pause. Harry knew the Philosopher’s Stone was capable of impossible things, so maybe he could take the Stone and bring them back himself. A voice in the back of his mind, that sounded suspiciously like Hermione, screamed at him that he was being manipulated.

“LIAR!” Harry yelled again.

Voldemort’s face twisted into a snarl. “Get the Stone!”

Quirrell surged forward and grabbed Harry by the throat. As soon as his hand touched his skin, his head felt like it was about to split open, it had never been this bad. The haze of pain made it difficult for Harry to focus, but Quirrell’s screaming was impossible to miss. The man’s hands were bubbling with blisters and quickly turning black. 

“WHAT IS THIS MAGIC!” Quirrell shrieked.

“Get him!” Voldemort ordered him.

Quirrell reached out his hands again, but this time Harry was prepared and grabbed them, making Quirrell scream again. Harry felt the hands crumble under his hold. The sensation made him want to gag, but he wasn’t about to let up. He quickly reached out to Quirrell’s face and firmly planted his hands there. The agony in his head grew even more making spots dance in front of his vision. The screaming, the smell of burning skin, and the unbearable pain eventually became too much and Harry fell unconscious.

***

Harry’s eyes fluttered open, only to shut again at the bright light streaming in from the windows. He tried to sit up, but his body was slow to respond.

“Good afternoon, Harry.” Dumbledore said from beside him.

Harry’s muddled mind tried very hard to catch up to what was happening. Somehow, Dumbledore’s presence was important, but he couldn’t remember why. Unconsciously, he rubbed his scar, which made all of his memories flood back like a tidal wave.

“Sir, the Stone… Quirrell!” He struggled to get up and out of bed, but halted at Dumbledore’s placating smile.

“Don’t worry, dear boy. The Stone has been destroyed and Quirrell is gone.”

“What? But… won’t the Flamels die without it?” Harry asked.

“Don’t you worry about Nicolas and Perenelle, they’ve got a small stock of the Elixir and will be getting their affairs in order before they pass away.” 

Dumbledore’s smile did nothing to ease the guilt that swirled in his stomach. He looked around for a distraction from his inner turmoil. His gaze landed on the bedside table that was filled with gifts from his friends. It settled his thoughts a bit, knowing how much his friends cared.

“Very nice of your friends, is it not? What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows.” Dumbledore told him with a twinkle in his eye.

With a jolt, Harry remembered. “Are they okay, Hermione, Dante, and Draco?” He asked frantically.

“They’re fine, they’re all just fine.”

He sagged in relief, if anything had happened to them he would never forgive himself. He had never imagined he would make such good friends when he came to Hogwarts, but he had been proven so wrong. He shook his head to get back on track.

“What happened to Quirrell and Voldemort?”

“Well, when I got there Quirrell was already… incapacitated and Voldemort was gone. I presume he’s gone back to floating around as a whisper of his former self, but do not be fooled, he has not died and he will be back.” Dumbledore’s tone had taken on a more serious note.

“Why did that happen to Quirrell, why couldn’t he touch me?”

“Voldemort has great power, but there are certain things he would never understand.” Dumbledore looked at him meaningfully with his ever-twinkling eyes. “What I’m saying is that when your mother sacrificed herself for you she protected you with the strongest magic of all… love, Harry. So, Quirrell, who shared his body with him, couldn’t stand to touch you.”

Harry nodded in understanding, although there was another thing that puzzled him. “Sir, why was it that I could get the Stone when Quirrell couldn’t?”

Dumbledore smiled a little more brightly at that question. “Thank you for asking dear boy, it was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me that’s saying something. You see, only a person who wanted to find the stone, find it, but not use it would be able to get it.”

Harry smiled at that, he had to give it to the Headmaster, that was pretty clever. Not that he was going to admit it, because the man looked far too smug.

“Rest now, Harry, I’m sure your friends will want to see you as soon as possible to share your victory and your sweets.” The Headmaster reached out to grab one of the many sweets on Harry’s bedside table. “Ah, Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans. I was most unfortunate in my youth to come across a vomit-flavoured one, and since then, I’m afraid, I’ve lost my liking for them. But I think I should be safe with a nice toffee.”

Dumbledore put the candy in his mouth and pulled a face. Harry had to keep himself from snickering at his misfortune.

“Alas, earwax.” He said before turning around with a smile and leaving the infirmary.

Soon after, Madam Pomfrey bustled over to give him a foul-tasting potion that Harry chugged with a grimace. He’d have to ask Professor Snape why they can’t give them some nicer flavours. He underwent Pomfrey’s fussing without protest in the hopes that she would let him go to see his friends.

“Out of the question, Mr Potter, you need to rest.” She said sternly when he finally asked.

There was no room for argument so Harry ate his dinner in a frustrated silence. Not long after that, though, came his salvation in the form of Professor Snape. He had Draco, Hermione, and Dante in tow, who waved at him excitedly. Pomfrey was already going over to send them away, not deterred in the least by Snape’s presence.

“Severus, I have told you before the boy is not ready for visitors, he needs rest.” She told him.

“I know Poppy, but we’ll only need a moment. I need to have a word with all of them about their actions and I’m loath to repeat myself.” Snape said with a significant look at the group.

The mediwitch scrutinised the professor for a few seconds before nodding her head.

“I’ll give you ten minutes and not a second more.” She said with a pointed finger.

That was enough for his friends, because they rushed over to him. Hermione got there first and threw her arms around him, but quickly let go at Pomfrey’s protests.

“Sorry, Madam Pomfrey.” She said sheepishly.

Pomfrey left in a huff, but Harry couldn’t bring himself to feel sorry. It was so good to see his friends unharmed.

“We were so worried about you!” Hermione cried as soon as Pomfrey left.

“We tried to visit you, but they wouldn’t let us.” Draco glared a little at Snape.

The professor rolled his eyes. “Your friends are quite tenacious in their care for you, Mr Potter. I caught them out after curfew quite a few times the past three days.”

This revelation made a warm feeling grow in his chest. He would never get tired of hearing about his friends caring, although he would prefer to avoid worrying them in the first place.

“So, what happened after we left? Professor Snape wouldn’t give us any details.” It was Dante’s turn to give their head of house a look.

Letting out a sigh, he quickly explained what had happened in the last room with the mirror, Quirrell, and Voldemort. The horror was clear on his friends’ faces, even Snape was a little unsettled, as he told them about Voldemort’s parasitic existence on the back of Quirrell’s head. The tension made Harry a little uncomfortable, so he tried to lighten the mood by telling them about the Weasley twins pelting the back of Quirrell’s head during the Christmas break. It had the desired effect.

“I would have loved to have seen that.” Draco laughed, wiping the tears out of his eye.

“What happened to you then, after you went back to get help?” Harry asked in return.

Draco got a tired look on his face. “Well, it was quite the trek back especially with those psychotic keys and that rabid dog, but we got through it without too much trouble.”

“Hermione went to send an owl to Dumbledore while Draco and I got Professor Snape.” Dante continued the story. “He told us to go here and wait for you while he went down to get you. We met Hermione on our way here and told Madam Pomfrey what happened who got all the other teachers.”

“We meant to go back, Harry,” Draco interjected, “we tried to, but he wouldn’t let us.” Draco went back to glaring at Snape, who rolled his eyes again.

“I believe I have already told you to let the subject go, Mr Malfoy.” Snape frowned at the blonde.

“It’s okay Draco, I don’t blame you.” Harry tried to placate him.

Draco still looked put out, so Harry decided to change the topic. “Who won the House Cup?”

The topic was indeed changed, but now Draco looked upset for a whole other reason. Harry took that as a sign that Slytherin had not won.

“The Ravenclaws won, but at least we won the Quidditch Cup, right?” Dante shrugged.

“Now that we’ve all caught up,” Snape interrupted, “I would like to talk to you all about your… rescue mission.”

Harry cast his eyes at his lap to escape the pointed look Snape was giving them all.

“It was very brave of you to try to stop Quirrell, but not something I want a repeat of. It turned out alright this time, but you could have been seriously injured or worse.” He looked at Harry when he said that.

“But sir, no one was going to do anything about Quirrell. There was no time for explanations and we didn’t think anyone would take us seriously.” Harry tried to explain.

“I thought I had made it clear I had Quirrell under observation, if you would have simply told me, I would have gone after him. I would never make light of your suspicions as I think I have already proven to you, so if something like this ever occurs again, you come to me, am I clear?”

The four of them nodded, chastised, although Harry still felt like they had done the right thing. Snape didn’t have his mother’s magic protecting him, who knows what could have happened if Snape had gone down instead of him. He didn’t voice any of these thoughts, however, because he knew the professor wouldn’t take kindly to them.

“Your time is up, Severus.” Madam Pomfrey said as she came out of her office.

“We’ll see you at the End of Term Feast tomorrow, right Harry?” Hermione asked hopefully.

Harry chanced a look at the mediwitch who frowned in thought.

“Perhaps, if you are rested enough tomorrow, no promises.”

Nodding, Harry turned to say goodbye to his friends, before settling down to sleep. He hoped that he would be able to attend the feast, because he really didn’t feel like staying here alone any longer.

***

The next morning came with another visit, but this time it was Hagrid. The big man was refusing to look at Harry and sniffling dangerously.

“Harry I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t ‘ave told that man about Fluffy. It’s all my fault.”

Hagrid looked absolutely miserable and Harry couldn’t stand it. “It’s not your fault, Hagrid, you couldn’t have known. Besides I’m fine now, Voldemort’s gone again.”

To Harry’s absolute horror the man started crying at his words. Not knowing what to do, he patted Hagrid’s hand trying to calm him.

“I don’t deserve yer kindness, I was so stupid, I’ll never drink again.” Hagrid promised.

“Thank you, Hagrid, but I don’t blame you, honestly.”

It didn’t seem to get through to him, but he couldn’t push it, because Pomfrey soon came over with Harry’s breakfast and asked Hagrid to leave. After a long, boring day, Pomfrey begrudgingly allowed him to go to the feast that night, but that he shouldn’t make it a long night. Harry would agree to anything by then, so he promised her to go to bed as soon as the feast ended and hurried out with a quick ‘thank you’.

He met his housemates on his way to the Great Hall who all greeted him enthusiastically. Daphne nearly made him pass out again with her tight hug and Millicent gave him a stern clap on the back that made him stumble, but he couldn’t be happier.

The hall was decorated with blue and bronze to celebrate the Ravenclaws winning the House Cup. Harry didn’t mind too much, they won the Quidditch Cup which was honestly more important to him.

“Welcome to the End of Year Feast,” Dumbledore announced when everyone had found their seat, “before we fill our stomachs with another delicious feast, I would like to discuss the matter of the House Cup. The points stand thus: Fourth place, Slytherin, with three hundred and three points; Third place, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two points; Second place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and ninety points; and in first place, Ravenclaw, with four hundred and twenty-six.”

The Ravenclaw table jumped to their feet to cheer loudly.

“Yes, yes, well done Ravenclaw, well done. However, recent events must be taken into account.” Dumbledore said with the usual twinkle in his eye. “To Miss Hermione Granger, for the cool use of intellect, when others were in grave peril, fifty points.”

Now it was Gryffindors’ turn to burst into loud cheers. Harry, Draco, and Dante joined in with their own cheers while Harry tried to catch Hermione’s gaze, but she was far too busy with looking at her feet to see him. They all fell silent when Dumbledore raised his hand.

“Second, to Mr Dante Emhrys, for not choking under pressure and keeping a level-head, fifty points.”

Dante looked completely stunned while Blaise was knocking their shoulders in congratulations. His haze was broken by something he saw in the Hall, because he quickly looked down at the table with a silly grin on his face. Harry cast a curious look behind him to find the reason for his reaction, but it was interrupted by Dumbledore who was, apparently, not done yet.

“Third, to Mr Draco Malfoy, for the best-played game of chess that Hogwarts has seen these many years, fifty points.”

Harry pulled Draco in an awkward sideways hug. The blonde blushed furiously, but still smirked.

“And lastly, to Mr Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Slytherin house sixty points.”

Around him, everyone burst into cheers and he was pulled to his feet by his friends who were clapping furiously. He saw Hermione and Neville give him a thumbs up from across the room, which made him blush even harder.

“Assuming that my calculations are correct, I believe a change in decoration is in order.” Dumbledore clapped his hands and the banners fluttered as they changed to green and silver instead of blue and bronze. “Slytherin wins the House Cup.”

The feast that followed was the best one he’d had since arriving at Hogwarts.

***

The next day, everyone was scrambling to pack their stuff for the train, excited chatter permeated the whole castle, but Harry didn’t share their enthusiasm. He was, however, pleasantly surprised by his grades, he had completely forgotten about the exams. He had passed all his classes, although History of Magic had been close, and he was even top of his class in Potions. The other top spots were held by either Hermione or Dante, except for Herbology where Neville had taken it.

Harry put his last books in his trunk reluctantly. It was going to be hard to go back to the Dursleys for a whole two months. He looked up to see his melancholy was shared by Dante who gave him a small, understanding smile. Draco’s constant prattling distracted him enough not to let his thoughts stray too much until they reached the train where his reluctance returned tenfold.

“Don’t worry, Harry, you’ll only be there a short while before I come to pick you up.” Draco said as he heaved his trunk into the train.

“I know, I shouldn’t complain, it’s just…” Harry didn’t really know how to end that sentence.

He had been alone so long, living with people who despised him. But then he escaped, leaving behind a world where he had no one to depend on to trade it for a place where he had so many amazing people.

“I’m going to miss this place.” He said finally.

Draco just threw an arm around him and pulled him into the train. They found a compartment for them and the rest of their friends. During the ride back, Harry tried to savour as much of his friends’ company as he could, so that even the Dursleys couldn’t ruin his great mood.

When they arrived at King’s Cross he got tight hugs from all of his friends with promises of lots of letters this summer. Soon after, they all dispersed to go to their parents and Harry figured he shouldn’t keep uncle Vernon waiting too long. With one last wave to his friends, he stepped through the portal to take him back to the muggle world. There was a big smile plastered on his face which even uncle Vernon’s grumbling couldn’t wipe away. He’d see all of them back at Hogwarts, back at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! I can't believe it, it feels like yesterday that I started writing this. I hope you all loved it as much as I did, I really appreciate everyone who left a comment and kudos, it's been my first big project and it's been an absolute blast. It'll take me a while to write the second book, because I also have uni and a thesis to write, so sorry if it's going to take too long, but please know I'm working on it. Thanks everyone, have a lovely day!


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